Mapping Four Decades of Tourism Studies to Predict Future Trends

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to provide a comprehensive analysis of evolving landscape of tourism through analysing publications of one of the top journal of tourism management. This study examines the most productive authors, institutions, and nations, as well as the most cited publications and citing articles, using the Scopus database. The study represents the bibliographic data, including the total number of publications and citations between 1982 and 2022, using bibliometric indicators. By employing the visualisation of similarities viewer software to map journals, keywords, and institutions with bibliographic coupling and co-citation analysis, the study also creates a graphical visualisation of the bibliographic data. Emerging trends indicate that digital transformation through big data analytics, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality will be the new dimensions for future tourism. Any reader of this publication will find this article helpful in understanding scientific productivity in terms of contributors/authors, institutions, and countries, or the primary sources used to support them. This research shows that where societal changes are directed and what are the trends and dynamics in tourism research. This is the first comprehensive article offering a general overview of the leading trends and researchers of the journal over its history.