Research on Nature-Based Tourism Literature: A Bibliometric Analysis in Scopus

The main aim of this study is to investigate the published studies on nature-based tourism in line with the criteria determined and to address them from a holistic perspective. In line with the criteria determined with the keyword “nature-based tourism”, 1571 data were obtained from the Scopus database. These data were analysed by using VOSviewer programme with bibliometric analysis technique. According to the results of the study, publications on nature-based tourism have increased regularly over the years. And it is predicted that these publications will continue to increase. The author who published the most on this subject was Peter Fredman, while the most cited author was Tsung Hung Lee. It was determined that the most publications were published in the “Journal of Sustainable Tourism”. United States was determined as the country with the most publications. In addition, Griffith University was identified as the institution with the highest number of publications. “Nature-based tourism” (705) is the most frequently used keyword, afterwards “ecotourism” (430), “tourism” (292), “tourism development” (203) and “protected area” (154). This is the study that deals only with the concept of “nature-based tourism” with bibliometric analysis, so it has contributed to this field in the literature.