An overview of the European research in tourism, leisure and hospitality since the first indexed publication

Abstract

This document constitutes an overview of the research performed by authors whose main affiliation is in a European research institution, in the field of ‘tourism, leisure and hospitality’, since the first indexed publication in 1969. The method used includes measures, such as the most productive authors, institutions and countries, as well as relational techniques which depict results and allow for the analysis of the scientific and intellectual structure of the field, especially regarding the main topics addressed. Results show that Dimitrios Buhalis is the most productive author, authors from UK institutions are the most influential, UK and Spain are the most productive countries in terms of published articles and that the main topics addressed in the last decade refer to social media and climate change. Among the major implications are that it offers a retrospective overview of tourism research, contributes to the literature on research advances and it serves to identify the main research areas in this study.