Sustainable Development and Tourism: A Review of the Literature in WoS from 2001 to 2020

Abstract

The concept of sustainable development has been applied and studied across various domains, including the tourism sector. This article endeavors to uncover the key contributions from the scientific literature regarding sustainable tourism development in the present century. To achieve this, a comprehensive bibliographic search was conducted, focusing on the themes of sustainable development and tourism, utilizing the Web of Science (WoS) database. This search yielded a list of 496 documents, which were subsequently subjected to analysis using the VOSviewer software, including diverse analytical methods and units of analysis. The primary findings of this study reveal the predominance of Australia in terms of the highest number of citations and China in the number of published documents. Finnish researcher Jarkko Saarinen emerges as the most frequently cited author, while Colin Michael Hall from New Zealand is the most co-cited author. In the context of keyword analysis, three thematic groups were identified: (1) rural tourism, reflecting a tourism sector closely linked to environmental aspects; (2) management, with a heightened emphasis on tourism as a business activity; and (3) sustainable tourism development, advocating for a balance among economic, social, and environmental dimensions. These findings are further complemented by the emergence of three prominent themes: governance, innovation, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The article suggests a more in-depth exploration of these thematic areas, particularly in terms of how sustainability can be incorporated as a focal point for development, thus alleviating the adverse impacts of tourism on destinations.