Three Decades Of Sustainable Tourism Research And Future Agenda

Abstract

Sustainable tourism is a technique designed to alleviate the negative environmental effects of tourism while promoting economic benefits and encouraging responsible travel behaviors. However, the existing research and scholarly knowledge on sustainable tourism are fragmented in nature. Considering “sustainability” as an important theme, the authors aim to conduct a comprehensive analysis on existing sustainable tourism research to point out the intellectual framework and future research agenda. A multistep screening technique is employed for extracting data from Scopus ranging from 1995-2025. The bibliometric analysis is carried out using VOSviewer package which is a reliable for analysing the large volume of data and providing meaningful interpretation. The findings show that publication in this field is growing significantly. Cluster analysis using the co-citation of references method resulted in four broad research themes: Issues and risks in sustainable tourism, Planning, motivation and management of sustainable tourism, Community attitude in sustainable tourism, Community empowerment through sustainable tourism. The study offers a comprehensive understanding about sustainable tourism and acts as a beacon of light for prospective researchers who want to delve deeper into sustainable tourism research.