Knowledge structure and future directions in emotional AI tourism research

Abstract The rapid integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in tourism services has accelerated the development of emotionally responsive technologies, yet research on Emotional Artificial Intelligence (EAI) remains fragmented across multiple domains and lacks a coherent framework explaining how emotionally adaptive technologies shape tourism experiences. This study addresses this gap by mapping the intellectual structure, thematic evolution, and future directions of EAI research in tourism. Using a systematic literature review combined with bibliometric and science-mapping techniques, the study identifies dominant research themes, influential knowledge domains, and emerging research frontiers. The findings reveal a clear conceptual progression from affective computing and emotion recognition toward emotional intelligence, human–AI interaction, emotionally adaptive AI, and human–AI co-creation. The thematic evidence further highlights growing attention to ethical governance, workforce adaptation, and traveler well-being as integral dimensions of EAI-enabled tourism services. Grounded in these thematic patterns, the study proposes the Human–AI Co-Creation Servicescape (HACS) framework, which integrates Socio-Technical Systems (STS) theory and the Stimulus–Organism–Response (SOR) framework to provide a multilevel conceptual explanation of how technological drivers, psychological processes, governance conditions, and socio-technical infrastructure collectively shape tourism experiences and service outcomes. The study contributes to EAI scholarship by synthesizing fragmented research streams into a coherent conceptual structure and identifying promising directions for future research.