Progress in Sustainable Tourism Research: An Analysis of the Comprehensive Literature and Future Research Directions

Abstract

Sustainable tourism must maintain a high level of customer satisfaction, raise awareness of sustainability concerns, and spread sustainable tourism practices among them. Several earlier studies have measured sustainable tourism in various regions of the world, but a thorough review of it is rare. Thus, the study is founded on a comprehensive literature review to evaluate the current research level and to provide guidelines for future research on sustainable tourism. The paper’s first section clarifies and analyzes a broad overview of existing studies. While a tabulated presentation of studies, which consists of the author, significant objectives, methods, and critical results, is broadly given in the second part. The third part of the study highlights the critical analysis of the existing literature on sustainable tourism and research gaps. This study makes a significant positive contribution to sustainable tourism research. It is beneficial for aspiring researchers conducting subsequent research studies since it offers a research pathway to advance the field’s literature. The broad domains of sustainability, issues related to sustainable infrastructure and services, livelihood, and management of tourism destinations are the critical areas that scientific research studies could further explore. The results of this study show that most studies lack depth in proper analysis, methodology, geographical variances, empirical analysis, and real-world application.