Evolving Trends in Sustainable Religious Tourism: A Bibliometric Analysis

As the world strives to overcome the pressing challenges of sustainable development, the tourism industry, with its substantial environmental and social impacts, calls for renewed attention. Within this domain, religious tourism has emerged as a distinctive and integral component of the sustainable tourism discourse. This study employs bibliometric analysis to examine the growth, key themes, and emerging trends in research on sustainable and religious tourism from the year 2011 to 2022, using the open-access Dimensions database. The findings indicate a continuous and steady growth in the body of literature pertaining to sustainability in religious tourism. The key themes and potential future trends include eco-pilgrimages, virtual religious tourism, cultural heritage preservation, community engagement, and religious institutions’ role in sustainability. This study provides valuable insights for stakeholders into the evolving dialogue surrounding sustainable tourism within a religious framework, and underscores the need for further research and initiatives to promote responsible and sustainable pilgrimage practices.