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e-ISSN 2080-6922, ISSN 0867-5856
Turyzm/Tourism
2023, 33/2
Anh Toai Lea , Hoang Son Nguyenb
a Pedagogical University of Cracow (Poland), Institute of Geography; Hue University of Education (Vietnam);
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7377-2816; e-mail: anhtoai.le@doktorant.up.krakow.pl
b Hue University of Education (Vietnam), Institute of Open Education and Information Technology;
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2469-5690; e-mail: nhsonsp@hueuni.edu.vn
How to cite (APA st yle):
Turyzm/Tourism, 33
Ecotourism is one of the forms of sustainable tourism
that aims to meet the needs of sustainable development
gained popularity due to the negative social and
environmental impacts associated with mass tourism,
which places more emphasis on income and growth
rather than the conservation of the environment
and the sociocultural goals of the community (Ziffer,
of ecotourism is that of Hector Ceballos-Lascurain.
According to this author, ecotourism is “travelling to
relatively undisturbed or uncontaminated natural areas
with the specific objective of studying, admiring and
enjoying the scenery and its wild plants and animals,
as well as any existing cultural manifestations (both
past and present) found in these areas” (Ceballos-
gained prominence in both environmental and social
ABSTRACT
This st udy aims to conduct a bibliometric ana lysis of ecotour ism literature in the period
scholars from many countries. Most of the articles were published in the United States,
four main thematic areas: (a) the involvement of local communities and stakeholders in
ecotourism management and development i n protected areas; (b) ecotourist s’ perceptions,
to support ecotourism development planning and management; and (d) biodiversity
conservation and sustainable development in ecotourism. This study suggests that
decision-making based on data, stakeholder participation and climate adaptation in
worldwide.
KEYWORDS
ecotourism, bibliometric analysis, sustainable development, VOSviewer
ARTICLE INFORMATION DETAILS
Received:
15 March 2023
Accepted:
12 October 2023
Published:
24 November 2023
Turyzm/Tourism 2023, 33/272
conferences and journals worldwide, with expanded
definitions incorporating ethical issues or normative
The increasing popularity of ecotourism at the global
level has opened up many opportunities for research
ecotourism-related publications has increased the
demand for conducting research to examine and
analyze their characteristics, trends and impacts
examining the evolving principles over time based on
the social structure, concepts and intelligence of a given
abstracts from existing literature to analyze and
As a result, researchers employ this analysis to identify
developing trends, intellectual structures and research
characteristics, and to gain deeper insights into
exploring maps based on network data.
In the above context bibliometrics can also be used
to explore and analyze trends and opportunities
in ecotourism research in a given period of time.
Unfortunately, the scope of previous studies in this
on articles published in the same journal (Singh et al.,
output of articles on ecotourism; (b) identify leading
authors, journals on ecotourism research; (c) explore
collaborative research trends; (d) identify the main
results provide the characteristics and research
new research directions that researchers need to
address in the future.
the bibliometric analysis method is introduced, and
The first stage of bibliometric analysis is to select
a suitable database which has been determined by its
usefulness for the research. The Scopus database was
used to select a sample for the current survey. This
is a database that is capable of providing detailed
information on documents that are recognized by the
was used in the initial search to find articles containing
the keywords ‘ecotourism OR eco-tourism’; these were
chosen based on the experience of previous studies
may appear in the titles, abstracts, and author’s keywords;
however, this study only focused on searching for them
in the titles because using a broader search would
The process of refining the research sample
continued by selecting the most directly relevant
articles on the ecotourism topic. The criteria chosen
were (a) documents in the form of academic journal
articles; book chapters, conference papers and
books were excluded from the analysis; (b) academic
and manually processed before being entered into for
directory evaluation and analysis. The directory details
of the articles were exported to an Excel spreadsheet
for analysis, including journal title, publication date,
author information, article title, keywords, abstract
and citation count.
The continuous increase in tourism literature makes
bibliometric analysis useful in tourism research for
accumulating information, evaluating research per-
formance and providing a profound insight based on
evidence by analyzing previous research publications
used include the total number of publications, total
number of citations, authors and the leading countries
VOSviewer, this study examines the co-occurrence
of author keywords, source co-citations, author and
of all types of bibliometric indices were also evaluated.
relatedness and connection of research topics, countries
was used to compute and graphically represent the
keywords on two types of bibliometric maps: network
Arcles 73
visualization and overlay visualization (van Eck
of research articles on ecotourism has significantly
Ecotourism, research has been conducted worldwide
to gain a deeper understanding of ecotourism (Fennell,
began to be studied in developing countries (Mowforth
this data is that ecotourism is a developing research
field and a topic that attracts the attention of scholars
in many countries.
The number of articles and the number of citations can
be employed to determine the popularity of journals,
authors and articles in the field of ecotourism. The
citation count of an article is used as a measure of the
degree of recognition a published article has gained
popularity and not its importance in a research domain
the number of published articles and citations. These
in the sample. Journal of Ecotourism tops the list with
journal publishes theoretical, empirical and conceptual
research on social, economic and ecological aspects of
ecotourism, contributing innovative ideas and models
for planning, management and practice in ecotourism
Journal of Sustainable Tourism
is entirely suitable for the ecotourism theme. Long-
established tourism journals, such as Annals of Tourism
Research and Journal of Travel Research, also appear on
the list. The number of articles and citations for those
journals is relatively stable.
The journal Sustainability ranks third in terms of
the number of published articles among all sources.
It is a multidisciplinary international academic
on publications related to sustainable development in
and society. However, due to its relative youth, its
one article, indicating that they are not specialized
participation of a large number of non-specialized
journals indicates that ecotourism is a multidisciplinary
Figure 1. The process of data collection and the main
research method
Source: authors
Figure 2. Number of academic articles from 2002 to 2022
Source: Scopus data
Turyzm/Tourism 2023, 33/2
The current study sample includes a total of
lists the authors with the highest number of ecotourism
articles. At the top of the list is Mauricio Carvache-
Orly Carvache-Franco. This group of authors focuses
on analyzing the sociological aspects and relationships
with motivation, satisfaction and loyalty in ecotourism
in nature conservation areas (Carvache-Franco et al.,
citations is not high.
Rank Journal name Publisher SCImago Journal
Rank 2021
Number
of articles
Number
of citations
1Journal of Ecotourism 0.528 141 3,550
2Journal of Sustainable Tourism 2.476 68 3,489
3Sustainability
0.664 49 411
4African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism
and Leisure
Africa Journals 0.210 35 118
5Journal of Environmental Protection
and Ecology
Communication
0.182 34 64
6Journal of Environmental Management
and Tourism
ASERS Publishing House 0.238 33 82
7GeoJournal of Tourism and Geosites Editura Universitati din
Oradea
0.332 31 168
8Tourism Management Elsevier 3.383 26 2,426
9Environment, Development and Sustainability Springer Nature 0.679 24 339
10 Tourism Recreation Research 0.877 24 224
Source: compiled by the authors from VOSviewer.
Rank Author h-index Number
of articles
Number
of citations
1 Carvache-Franco, M. Universidad Espíritu Santo, Samborondón, Ecuador 13 16 83
2
Ecuador
10 14 52
3 18 10 351
4 45 9 245
5 Carvache-Franco, O.
9 8 30
6Stronza, A. 22 7 670
7 33 7 156
8 Jaafar, M. Universiti Sains Malaysia, Minden, Malaysia 26 7 89
9 Hamzah, J. 7 7 62
10 Er, A.C. 13 7 48
Source: compiled by the authors from VOSviewer.
Arcles 75
topics are very diverse, such as the relationship
and community perspectives on ecotourism (Stronza
the number of publications, while ‘popular’ authors are
determined based on the number of citations (Hasana
participating in publishing. This shows that ecotourism
is receiving significant attention from many countries
around the world. However, the level of interest and
research outcomes vary g reatly among countries with the
Overall, developed countries have an advantage in
terms of the number of publications. The United States
has a long-standing academic community that focuses
heavily on environmental and sustainability issues. In
addition, there are many specialized research centers
and programs that focus on ecotourism and related
topics. Therefore, it is not surprising that the United
States tops the list. Similarly, the United Kingdom and
Australia are two other countries with a long-standing
academic tradition and significant contributions to the
ecotourism research
Rank Country/territory Number
of articles Citations Total link
strength
1 United States 243 8,643 122
2 China 188 1,790 57
3 Indonesia 146 447 21
4 Malaysia 119 1,127 36
5 Australia 111 3,329 61
6 United Kingdom 97 3,303 79
7 Iran 83 874 33
8South Africa 74 2,095 32
9 Canada 74 1,456 53
10 India 70 574 20
Source: compiled by the author from VOSviewer.
The development of ecotourism can contribute to
enhancing economic development, environmental
protection and promoting sustainable development
Therefore, there is an increasing trend for developing
countries to participate in research on ecotourism.
China, Indonesia and Malaysia, following the United
States, have demonstrated this trend. These countries
have vast and diverse ecosystems and natural
Rank Author h-index Number
of citations
Number
of articles
1 39 727 6
2Stronza, A. 22 670 7
3 Clemson University, Clemson, United States 25 356 5
4 18 351 10
5 Flagler College, St. Augustine, United States 13 266 5
6 45 245 9
7 Snyman, S. African Leadership University, Pamplemousses, Mauritius 10 192 5
8 School of Management, Swansea, United Kingdom 26 183 5
9 14 166 5
10 33 156 7
Source: compiled by the authors from VOSviewer.
Turyzm/Tourism 2023, 33/276
domestic research and development of ecotourism. The
main research areas on ecotourism in China, Indonesia
and Malaysia focus on assessing the potential for
Co-authorship analysis can help to identify the trends
and nature of research collaborations in the study
value means that it has been linked with others many
observed that the United States and the United Kingdom
are the two countries with the highest level of research
collaboration. In addition, other countries also have
some countries with low levels of research collaboration,
such as Ukraine with only one co-authorship and Serbia
with only two. Therefore, research collaboration on
the level of collaboration among countries varies.
The network visualization map of keyword occurrences,
generated using VOSviewer software, is shown
represented correspond to the weight of the nodes
The network connections display the co-occurrence
the analyzed articles; a line between two keywords
indicates their co-occurrence. The distance between
two nodes reflects the strength of the relationship
between them – that is, the shorter the distance, the
stronger the relationship. The thickness of the lines
the color of the nodes represents different clusters or
at the center; ‘sustainable development’ is the second
largest. These two keywords have the highest total link
strength, indicating that ecotourism and sustainable
development are closely related and often appear
together in theoretical research.
Identifying the most common keywords can help
Figure 3. Co-authorship analysis among countries
Source: VOSviewer
Arcles 77
keywords were grouped into four clusters, each
with a distinct color. Four main research topics were
Cluster 1. Involvement of local communities and
stakeholders in the management and development
of ecotourism in protected areas
Terms such as ‘community development’, ‘community
participation’, and ‘community-based ecotourism’
appearing in the cluster indicate that studies have
shown positive impacts of ecotourism activities, such
as promoting local economic growth, creating job
opportunities and income for the local community
Moreover, effective participation of stakeholders plays
a significant role in the management and planning of
Protected areas play an important role in the existence
and development of ecotourism. Ecotourism i n protected
areas provides favorable conditions for responsible
travel to natural sites, promoting environmental
as a sustainable lifeline for conservation areas,
contributing to the conservation of local biodiversity,
community development and education (Lindsey et al.,
Cluster 2. Perceptions, attitudes and behaviors of
ecotourists
The sustainable development of ecotourism depends
on the behavior of tourists. As consumers of tourism
services, tourist participation can impact the entire
Questionnaire surveys are used to collect data on
tourists’ awareness of ecotourism, including their
attitudes towards nature, motives for participating
in ecotourism activities and satisfaction with tourism
information is used to help operators and marketers
adjust strategies to attract and retain tourists, as well
as to develop ecotourism products and services that
meet tourists’ needs while promoting sustainability
Cluster 3. Using technology and environmental
management to support ecotourism development
planning and management
Geographic information system (GIS) technology is
becoming increasingly popular and accessible, allowing
researchers to analyze and visualize spatial data related
to ecotourism sites. The main applications of GIS include
assessing the potential and risks of ecotourism activities
Figure 4. Network visualization of the simultaneous occurrence of keywords
Source: VOSviewer
Turyzm/Tourism 2023, 33/278
and improving decision-making in management
the increasing concern in understanding the ecological
impacts of ecotourism and how to sustainably manage
these impacts. This relates to researching the ecological
characteristics of ecotourism sites, evaluating the
potential impacts of ecotourism activities on ecosystems,
and identifying strategies to mitigate negative impacts
Cluster 4. Biodiversity conservation and sustainable
development in ecotourism
The focus of ecotourism research is often on the
creation of sustainable tourism. Terms like ‘sustainable
development’, ‘sustainability’ and ‘sustainable tourism’
demonstrate an interest in developing tourism in
a sustainable manner. Ecotourism destinations must
be developed in a way that balances the economic,
social and environmental needs of the local community.
This involves working closely with them to ensure that
tourism benefits are shared fairly, and that the impacts
of tourism on the environment and local culture are
minimized.
The prominence of phrases like ‘conservation’,
‘conservation management’ and ‘natural resource’ in
the keywords suggests that research in this cluster is
natural resources in a way that supports biodiversity
from tourism. Researchers guarantee that ecotourism
remains a viable and sustainable economic activity
resources for future generations by investigating the
proposing responsible tourist management practices
The visual map of VOSviewer depicting keyword
co-occurrences is the result of an analysis of the
According to the VOSviewer analysis, the period
represent the keywords with the highest appearance
rate in the early stage of the research period. The
green and light yellow nodes represent the most
commonly used keywords in recently published
articles. The keywords ‘ecotourism’, ‘sustainable
tourism’, ‘sustainability’, ‘sustainable development’
and ‘biodiversity’ are located in the middle of the
scale (in green) due to the repetition of these keywords
throughout the analyzed period.
Figure 5. Keyword overlay visualization in ecotourism articles
Source: VOSviewer
Arcles 79
The increased occurrence of keywords such as ‘GIS’,
‘climate change’ and ‘planning’ in the later period
indicates a growing trend in making decisions based on
data, stakeholder engagement and adapting to climate
change in ecotourism planning and management.
environment and the natural resources that ecotourism
example, changes in temperature, rainfall and sea level
can alter ecosystems, wildlife behavior and biodiversity,
As a result, researchers are increasingly focusing
on understanding the impacts of climate change on
ecotourism destinations and developing strategies
to mitigate these impacts. This includes developing
sustainable tourism activities to reduce carbon
emissions and promote renewable energy, as well
as identifying and adapting to changes in natural
Using bibliometrics analysis with the support of
VOSviewer, the study provides an overview of the
literature on ecotourism. The results indicate that
ecotourism is an important research field, with
a continuous increase in the number of academic
the Journal of Ecotourism topping the list, followed
by the Journal of Sustainable Tourism, Sustainability,
African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure, and
the Journal of Environmental Protection and Ecology.
The most ‘efficient’ authors are Mauricio Carvache-
Orly Carvache-Franco, while the authors receiving
Amanda Lee Stronza.
In terms of collaboration, the study shows that
between developed countries, or between developed
and developing countries, while collaboration between
developing countries is still limited even though
these countries have great potential for ecotourism
development. Academic articles are mainly published in
the United States, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia
and the United Kingdom. These are countries with
a long-standing academic tradition or great potential
in ecotourism.
the involvement of local communities and stakeholders
in ecotourism management and development in
behaviors; the use of technology and environmental
management to support ecotourism development
planning and management; and biodiversity
conservation and sustainable development in
ecotourism. This study suggests that decision-making
based on data, stakeholder participation and climate
adaptation in the planning and management of
worldwide.
Alongside its contributions, the study also faces
certain limitations. For instance, it relies on only
one database instead of utilizing various sources for
information retrieval. Furthermore, the use of search
algorithms geared towards articles also restricts
focuses on English-language materials which leads
to a potential underestimation of research conducted
in other languages. It recommends that future
research could be conducted by combining multiple
research results.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that there are no potential conflicts
of interest regarding the research, authorship, and/or
publication of this article.
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