Utilising tourist-generated citizen science data in response to environmental challenges: A systematic literature review

Abstract

There has been a proliferation of studies that have examined the impacts of public participation in Citizen Science (CS) that respond to environmental challenges and the recovery of ecosystems, endangered species or other important natural assets. However, comparatively few studies have explored how tourists may play a critical role in the generation of CS data and thus it has been posited that many potential opportunities remain unrealised. By systematically analysing studies that have utilised tourist-generated data in response to environmental challenges or issues, this paper seeks to establish an appraisal of what has so far been established in extant literature and to identify future possibilities for the inclusion of tourists in CS. Via our literature search, a total of 45 peer-reviewed studies were identified via the PRISMA search protocol. Our findings reveal numerous positive outcomes were reported that highlight the significant, yet largely untapped, potential of tourist integration in CS, with studies also offering a range of recommendations on how tourists could be included more effectively to expand scientific knowledge. Notwithstanding, several limitations were observed, and it is critical that future CS projects that utilise tourists for data collection purposes are acutely aware of the challenges they may encounter.