Approaches, Trends, and Gaps in Community-Based Ecotourism Research: A Bibliometric Analysis of Publications between 2002 and 2022

Abstract

Community-based ecotourism (CBET) has emerged as an alternative that seeks to integrate environmental, cultural, social, and economic sustainability through community participation, generating increasing interest in research. In this context, we conducted a bibliometric analysis to understand the research patterns, trends, and gaps associated with scientific production on CBET between 2002 and 2022. To achieve this, articles related to CBET and its variants were extracted from Scopus and Web of Science. A total of 1145 publications were selected. Sustainability is the journal with the most articles published on CBET. The countries with the highest scientific production were the USA and China. Most of the studies were conducted in protected areas. The most used data sources are interviews and case studies. The field research focused on evaluating impacts and identifying perceptions, attitudes, or experiences. Despite the recent increase in the number of publications, there are still gaps related to the inclusion of indigenous populations, the use of quantitative methods in the research, the evaluation of the impact of CBET on biodiversity conservation, and the disparity between countries leading academic production and those developing CBET initiatives. These patterns and gaps suggest areas of opportunity for future research, strategies, and policies in the field of CBET.