Mapping Social Media Research Trends in Hospitality and Tourism: A Bibliometric Perspective

Background: Social media has transformed the landscape of the hospitality and tourism industry, facilitating real-time interactions, user-generated content, and electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM), while also creating challenges for businesses. The rapid growth of technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, and mobile platforms has further accelerated social media’s impact on tourist behavior, creating the need for a comprehensive understanding of these trends. Purpose: This study aims to map the research trends in social media within hospitality and tourism, identifying key themes, influential papers, and emerging research areas. By conducting a bibliometric analysis, this paper seeks to provide insights into the evolution of social media research in the industry and highlight future directions for scholars. Methods: A bibliometric analysis was conducted on 1604 documents published between 2004 and 2022, retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection. The analysis employed R software and the Biblioshiny interface to perform descriptive assessments, including keyword co-occurrence, co-citation networks, and visual depictions of research trends. The study examined publication types, author collaboration, country productivity, and key topics in the field. Results: The study revealed significant growth in research on social media’s impact on tourist behavior, with a 35.11% annual growth rate. Key themes include eWOM, destination marketing, and consumer behavior, with interdisciplinary contributions from marketing, e-commerce, and tourism studies. The most relevant sources and authors were identified, with “Journal of Business Research” being the most prolific journal. Technological advancements, particularly in artificial intelligence and big data, were found to drive much of the recent research. Conclusion: This study provides a holistic overview of social media research in hospitality and tourism, highlighting its interdisciplinary nature and growing global collaboration. The findings underline the importance of integrating advanced technologies into future research, offering a structured framework for scholars to explore emerging areas such as corporate social responsibility and personalized consumer engagement.