Inclusive tourism: applying critical approach to a Web of Science bibliometric review

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to reveal the knowledge evolution process, research hotspots and future trends in the inclusive tourism research literature from 2008 to 2023. Design/methodology/approach A total of 322 papers on inclusive tourism were selected from the core collection database of Web of Science and analyzed using CiteSpace. Findings Over the 16-year period between 2008 and 2023 an increasing number of studies have been published concerning inclusive tourism, but the overall base is still small. Among institutions, the Massey University and University of Gothenburg take the lead in international research on inclusive tourism. Country cooperation shifted from UK-centered in 2008 to Australia, US and Spain from 2010, expanded to more nations and recently increased with China, Japan and others. The essence of inclusive tourism is inherently linked to societal and generational development, necessitating the elimination of social exclusion and inequality to achieve sustainability. The research on inclusive tourism has undergone three stages, emphasizing tourism producers, consumers and stakeholder relationships respectively. “Employment”, “sustainable development” and “quality of life” possess the potential to emerge as future research hotspots. Originality/value By combining literature on inclusive tourism and other overlapping concepts, CiteSpace was used to construct data and network visualizations, including a burst and dynamic analysis for the period covered by the sample. The conclusions offer researchers insights into the existing body of work in inclusive tourism research and suggest directions for future research. In practice, tourism managers can gain a deeper understanding of the needs and limitations of marginalized groups in tourism, allowing them to offer more tailored products for inclusive tourism and further enhance the development of an inclusive tourism environment.