A BIBLIOMETRIC EXAMINATION OF DOMESTIC TOURISM LITERATURE: UNVEILING RESEARCH PATTERNS AND TRENDS

Purpose - This study aims to analyse the current state of domestic tourism research through a bibliometric analysis. Design - A bibliometric approach is employed to evaluate the landscape of domestic tourism research published between 1990 and February 2024 using the Web of Science (WoS) database as the primary source. Methodology - The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020 framework guided the overall method selection process. Boolean search strings were used to retrieve relevant articles on domestic tourism and related topics in titles, abstracts, or author keywords. Bibliometric software VOSviewer was utilized to analyse and visualize keyword co-occurrence and thematic clusters. Approach - The analysis focused on identifying current trends, influential contributors, prominent thematic clusters, and future research directions. Findings - The research has identified a consistent increase in publications on domestic tourism since 1990, with a significant surge following the COVID-19 pandemic. Thematic clusters have emerged around the analysis of domestic tourism demand, tourist decision-making and behaviour, tourist experience and satisfaction, and lastly, tourist behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper's results suggest potential research avenues, including changing travel behaviour during pandemics, examining risk perception and travel decisions, using domestic tourism as a crisis relief strategy, and adapting marketing strategies during crises. Originality of the research - The study is original in its comprehensive overview of the domestic tourism research landscape, identifying trends, influential contributors, thematic areas, and promising future research directions. This text provides insights for researchers, policymakers, and industry professionals interested in domestic tourism.