Author Bios (50 Words for each Author)

Ayse Akyildiz is a master’s student in the Department of Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management at Pennsylvania State University. Ayse is a Fulbright grantee. Her research interests revolve around climate change, safety, accessibility, and inclusion in tourism destinations and national parks.

Bing Pan, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management at Pennsylvania State University. He is also a faculty affiliate of the Institute for Computational Data Sciences and the Graduate Program in Social Data Analytics. His research interests focus on data analytics, tourism big data, destination marketing, information technology, and travel benefits.

Abstract (150 Words)

Consumer behavior studies in the field of tourism aim to explain why tourists make certain decisions related to their travels. Researchers analyze demographic data such as age, gender, income, and family life cycle to account for the differences among people in consumer behavior studies. However, neurodiversity is often overlooked. Understanding the unique experiences of people with ASD requires a tailored tourist behavior model as there is a lack of a conceptual model that describes the travel experiences of tourists with ASD. This study aims to propose a research agenda on tourist behavior of people with ASD through identifying the knowledge gaps in the current literature on tourists with ASD and a thorough review of previous models of tourist behavior.

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Tourist Behavior of People with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Consumer behavior studies in the field of tourism aim to explain why tourists make certain decisions related to their travels. Researchers analyze demographic data such as age, gender, income, and family life cycle to account for the differences among people in consumer behavior studies. However, neurodiversity is often overlooked. Understanding the unique experiences of people with ASD requires a tailored tourist behavior model as there is a lack of a conceptual model that describes the travel experiences of tourists with ASD. This study aims to propose a research agenda on tourist behavior of people with ASD through identifying the knowledge gaps in the current literature on tourists with ASD and a thorough review of previous models of tourist behavior.