A bibliometric analysis of sports tourism and sustainability (2002-2019)

Abstract

Sports tourism is a relatively recent type of tourism, which has grown significantly in recent times. Not all effects of tourism are positive, so the analysis of its sustainability has particular relevance; especially since the publication of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015. The growing concern about tourism and sustainability makes it essential to examine how scientific research has adapted to new realities. This paper uses bibliometric techniques to investigate research trends related to sports tourism and sustainability. VOSviewer and SciMAT software were used. A total of 214 articles fromWeb of Science (WoS) indexed journals were analyzed. The results confirmed that interest in the study of these concepts has been growing, especially in the last four years. This is a comparatively new field of research (since 2002), so consolidated relations between thematic areas have yet to be observed, and there is a generally low concentration of authors and journals. Increases in several publications in this area are related to the celebration of mega sporting events or the publication of SDGs. The main contribution of this analysis lies in identifying important research issues, such as education and destination planning, which should continue to be addressed.