Sustainability and Tourism Marketing: A Bibliometric Analysis of Publications between 1997 and 2020 Using VOSviewer Software

William Quezado De F Cavalcante,Arnaldo Coelho,Cristela Maia Bairrada

doi:10.3390/su13094987

William Quezado De F Cavalcante, Arnaldo Coelho + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su13094987

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Abstract

Several studies have empirically explored the association between practices in sustainable tourism and their impact on tourism marketing. However, bibliometric studies that organize the production in this field are still scarce. The objective of this study is thus to provide a bibliometric analysis of research on sustainable practices in tourism related to marketing, identifying the state of the art, trends and other indicators, by monitoring the articles published on the Web of Science (WoS) platform. A sample of 694 materials was obtained. The data were processed and the results graphically illustrated using the VOSviewer software. The study analyzed the simultaneous occurrence of publications by year, keyword trends, cocitations, bibliographic coupling and analysis of coauthorship, countries and institutions, and indicates that the literature on tourism sustainability issues in the field of tourism marketing is growing at a quick pace; merely five papers accounted for more than 2193 citations, but there are several prolific authors. Of the 694 sources included in the review, the most important ones published 40.34% of the papers; Spain is the leading country in this topic. This research provides insight about the state of the art and identifies gaps and research opportunities in sustainability and tourism marketing.

Highlights

Based on a content analysis of recent publications, we identify gaps and opportunities of sustainability research in tourism
It helps to identify countries and institutions that publish the most, journals specialized in the sustainability area, especially related to tourism and marketing, and the trends in the covered subjects based on keywords, and the relevance of publications from the cocitation networks
This study provides an analysis of the leading journals, authors, institutions and keywords, showing that: (a) the literature on tourism sustainability in the field of tourism marketing is significantly growing; (b) five papers alone accounted for more than 2193 citations, and there are several prolific authors that make up a significant part of the research; (c) of the 694 sources included in this review, the main sources have published 40.34% of the papers; (d) in terms of documents and citations, Spain is the leading country in this topic; (e) according to keyword trend network analysis, sustainability is becoming a strategic approach for companies and tourist destinations

Summary

Introduction

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Public awareness of sustainability and balanced economic development is increasing due to economic growth [1,2,3]. Natural resources are under pressure and the environment is being harmed as a result of consumption increase. Challenges linked with water and air pollution, climate change, biodiversity loss and depletion of resources must be addressed [2,4]. In this context, sustainability has been highlighted as fundamental in business development, and the interest in theoretical and empirical research has grown [5]

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