Sports tourism research: A bibliometric analysis and agenda for further inquiry

Abstract

This study examines the origins, significant subjects, scientific advances, and future advancements in sports tourism research. We run a bibliometric analysis in R with the visualization tool Biblioshiny. The findings revealed four main clusters that have recently been examined in the knowledge domain: (1) sport tourist behaviors, (2) sustainable and economic development, (3) sports events and destination image, and (4) active-sport-event travel career progression. This study gives insight into the role of mega and small sports events in sustainable development in a tourist destination and identifies opportunities and limitations.