COVID Crisis and Tourism Sustainability: An Insightful Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract

The pernicious impact of COVID-19 on all the aspects of travel and tourism has posed a question of tourism sustainability before policymakers and researchers. This research aims to cast light on the bibliometric construct and knowledge structure of the contemporaneous research that evolved around tourism sustainability amid COVID-19. Bibliometric methods of performance analysis and science mapping were used to analyze a total of 440 bibliographic records retrieved from the Scopus database. The major findings showed sustainability as a trending area of tourism research amid COVID-19 and revealed the concentration of research in three prime domains: Management and sustainable development of tourism, environmental health, and mobility trends in the context of COVID-19 pandemic. These areas may be perceived as the recent domains, and they are imperative for future research.

Exploring the State of Research on Tourism Sustainability: A Bibliometric Analysis in the Post-COVID Era

“…Tourism sustainability refers to the capacity of the tourism industry to maintain its favorable impacts while also effectively recuperating from adverse effects, even during times of turbulence or crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic [1]. The literature on the topic of tourism sustainability has grown significantly in recent years, as evidenced by a search for articles utilizing the keywords "tourism", "sustainability" and "bibliometric analysis" in Scopus and the Web of Science (WoS) databases.…”

“…In their study, Bhatt et al ( 2022) [1] aimed to structure knowledge about tourism sustainability amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. To achieve this objective, they employed a bibliometric approach, utilizing 440 sources from Scopus to identify the relevant fields in which research is concentrated.…”

“…The literature review of previous studies on tourism sustainability has revealed the complexity of the concept and the need for a comprehensive examination of the various dimensions of sustainability. Bibliometric analysis has been employed in several studies [1,[12][13][14] to structure knowledge and determine the fields in which research is concentrated. The use of various bibliometric indicators, such as co-citation, co-occurrence, and co-authority analysis have been utilized to summarize the bibliographic data.…”

“…The use of various bibliometric indicators, such as co-citation, co-occurrence, and co-authority analysis have been utilized to summarize the bibliographic data. Furthermore, analysis such as Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) [1], and content analysis, have been used to analyze the conceptual, intellectual, and social structure of the knowledge.…”

“…The concept of sustainability has become increasingly relevant in recent years, particularly in the context of tourism and especially after COVID-19 [1]. Tourism is a vital economic sector that contributes to the development of many countries, but it can also have negative impacts on the environment, society, and culture.…”