This study examines single commercial exchanges in a tourism destination. Using the restaurant industry in Budapest, Hungary as the study context, the goal of this study was to identify the key variables affecting transactional trust forming in tourist-service providerinterfaces. The qualitative analysis is based on semi-structured in-depth interviews with 25 local restaurant operators. This study contributes to tourism service marketing literature in multiple ways. First, this study argues that transactional trust is a more salient notion than relational trust in the context of an unfamiliar tourism destination. Second, trustee- and trustor-induced factors that may trigger tourists' lack of trust are identified. Thirdly, the study shows that various macro- and micro-level environmental factors are linked to the formation of transactional trust and thus reduce the vulnerability and uncertainty tourist experience. Implications and suggestions for future research are also discussed.