How important are artificial reefs to the tourism industry? A review of the literature

Abstract

The main objective of the present study is to review the published scientific literature related to recreational or tourist activities and artificial reefs (AR). The paper covers different geographical contexts and determines the relevance of AR tourism. The content analysis methodology is in two parts: a protocol for reviewing the literature containing the words “artificial reef(s)” and “tourism” published in four different science portals, and a systematic review of the study objectives in the eligible literature. The results highlight the evolution of and trends in scientific production in the field of AR tourism from 1991 to 2020. While the number of AR papers generally has been increasing in the last decade, there are still few papers covering AR tourism. The results show which countries produce more literature related to AR tourism, the analytical methods used, the focus, the impact factor of the top ten countries, the areas/categories of knowledge covered, and the main tourism journals where papers are published. This literature analysis intends to make a connection between artificial reefs and potential interest aroused in the tourism industry.