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Review

A Bibliometric and Systematic Review of Publications on Augmented Reality in Sustainable Tourism

by
Fatih Ercan
1,*,
Kürşad Sayın
2,
Taner Dalgın
3 and
Kansu Gençer
4
1
Department of Tourism Management, Karadeniz Ereğli Faculty of Tourism, Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University, 67100 Zonguldak, Türkiye
2
Department of Hotel, Restaurant and Catering Services, Post Vocational School of Silifke-Tasucu, Selcuk University, 42130 Konya, Türkiye
3
Tourism and Travel Services Program, Muğla Vocational School, Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University, 48000 Muğla, Türkiye
4
Department of Gastronomy and Culinary Arts, Tavşanlı Faculty of Applied Sciences, Kütahya Dumlupınar University, 43300 Kütahya, Türkiye
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sustainability 2025, 17(4), 1508; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17041508
Submission received: 14 January 2025 / Revised: 2 February 2025 / Accepted: 3 February 2025 / Published: 12 February 2025
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Abstract

:
New tools and applications that can be used to develop the sustainability of tourism activities have emerged with developments in technology. In this context, augmented reality (AR), one of these cutting-edge technologies, has been studied in sustainable tourism applications in recent years, and studies have been carried out in the relevant fields that contribute to the literature on this subject. In this context, this study aims to reveal the current status and trends in published studies on AR technology in sustainable tourism through a bibliometric and systematic review. For this purpose, 61 publications on the subject were identified in the Web of Science (WoS) database, and bibliometric and systematic content analyses were performed using VOSviewer 1.6.20 software. As a result of these analyses, bibliometric data, such as the number of publications and citations by year, the most cited authors, countries, publications, their collaboration relationships, sustainable development goals, WoS categories, and content information regarding the study themes and aims, were obtained. Accordingly, it was determined that publications on AR in sustainable tourism emerged in 2014 and continued to develop into a new research area. The potential gaps suggested based on the findings of this study will guide future research and the development in the relevant sectors.

1. Introduction

Since the beginning of the 21st century, rapid developments in technology have strengthened the connection between the real world and the virtual world and brought them closer. One of the technologies that has emerged as a result of these developments is augmented reality (AR) [1]. AR technology, which has made remarkable progress in the last decade, has become a tool whose usage area is growing with mobile devices. AR technology is used in various ways: in marketing, such as in advertising and promotion [2]; in business lines such as e-commerce, logistics, the supply chain, human resource management, and production [3]; and in service sectors such as tourism [4].
Tourism is a notable sector due to its ability to quickly adapt to developments in technology. Technology can be used as a tool to provide new experiences in services and tangible attractiveness elements to tourists [5]. Today, AR technology in tourism is used as a technological tool for purposes such as enriching tourist experiences, public relations, promotion, and product and service differentiation. In addition, AR is considered an important tool in protecting cultural heritage at tourism destinations [6,7] and in ensuring the sustainability of tourist resources [8]. Reference [9] states that AR is an innovative technology that provides a competitive advantage in tourism, thus meaning that using AR technology can now be considered a necessity. The authors also emphasize that the number of studies on the use of AR in tourism areas such as transportation, accommodation, food and beverage, and museums has increased. References [10,11] are among the studies that draw attention to AR applications and their importance in the tourism sector.
Sustainability means meeting the needs of the present generation while also taking into account the needs of future generations. While ensuring success in meeting these needs and achieving these goals, the damage to and destruction of environmental factors and resources make sustainability an important approach today. Technology offers a new perspective in sustainable development and is applicable in many areas [12]. Sustainable development refers to sustainable human development, and the human–environment relationship forms the basis of sustainability. The sustainability of resources is critical for sustainable tourism today. In this context, sustainable environmental management is among the new tourism- and competition-related policies adopted by many destinations [13].
AR provides visual information about historical structures and cultural heritage elements and their preservation within a destination while offering a different travel experience for tourists. AR technology fulfills an important function in the protection and sustainability of resources in tourism through the use of mobile devices to display all touristic elements in a destination attraction, visually completing an object and providing information about it [13]. In recent years, sustainability has been addressed from various perspectives in tourism [14,15], and the concept of sustainable tourism has been introduced into the relevant literature [7,16]. Meeting the expectations and needs of all stakeholders in tourism while also seeking ways to protect the environment and cultural heritage is the main priority of sustainable tourism [17,18]. Here, establishing how to use AR technology to develop sustainable tourism is one of the main current research questions [6,19].
Reference [20] draws attention to this technology in terms of sustainable tourism by stating that AR is an important tool for protecting, promoting, and increasing the accessibility of cultural heritage in tourism. The authors emphasize the importance of future studies in this field by stating that the role of AR in sustainable tourism is becoming increasingly evident. Reference [21] reveals that virtual and augmented reality technologies in sustainable tourism have been studied more intensively in the last 10 years. However, there are no studies that systematically examine the literature on AR technology in sustainable tourism and reveal the current situation and trends. This has created a deficiency in terms of developments in the literature around AR technology in sustainable tourism and the development of a deep knowledge base. Bibliometric analysis is a method that can decipher and analyze a certain volume of scientific data (citation and publication numbers, occurrences of keywords and topics, etc.) by revealing the performance indicators based on quantitative data and performing a relational analysis [22]. Systematic reviews are critical studies that qualitatively evaluate the published studies in a specific field to summarize the literature and reveal different perspectives [23]. These two methods have been used together in recent years to perform more detailed analyses of the relevant literature and obtain rich data [24]. Therefore, this study will conduct a detailed analysis of articles on AR technology in sustainable tourism using a bibliometric analysis and a systematic review. In this regard, the main research questions for this study are as follows:
RQ1: How have publications on AR in sustainable tourism quantitively developed over the years?
RQ2: What are the citation performance and co-authorship relationships of the authors of publications on AR in sustainable tourism?
RQ3: What are the productivity and citation performance of countries publishing publications on AR in sustainable tourism, and what are the co-authorship relationships between them?
RQ4: What does the distribution of publications on AR in sustainable tourism according to WoS categories and sustainable development goals look like?
RQ5: What are the bibliographic coupling relationships of publications on AR in sustainable tourism?
RQ6: What are the most frequently used author keywords in publications on AR in sustainable tourism, and what are the co-occurrence relationships of keywords by year?
RQ7: Which are the most cited publications on AR in sustainable tourism, and what does the co-citation network of cited references look like?
RQ8: What are the main themes and purposes of publications on AR in sustainable tourism?
RQ9: Where should researchers direct their efforts with regard to AR in sustainable tourism in the future?
The systematic review and bibliometric analysis applied together within this framework of research questions provide structured information and a comprehensive understanding regarding AR in sustainable tourism. While quantitative performance and relational network analyses are performed with bibliometric analysis, qualitative content analysis of publications on AR in sustainable tourism is performed with a systematic review. In this study, first, bibliometric analysis alongside quantitative information and network analysis is carried out. Then, content analysis of the publications is carried out to define their aims and themes and to identify potential topics in some fields for future research. The quantitative, descriptive, and content features of the publications in the WoS database, which includes many journals and publication groups with high impact factors in the field of social sciences, will act as a guide for future research. In addition, we aim to fill an important gap in the research and contribute to the relevant scientific field by contributing to the tourism literature with this study.

2. Methodology

In this study, bibliometric analysis and systematic review techniques were applied together for a comprehensive analysis of the publications on AR in sustainable tourism. It has been observed that these two techniques have recently begun to be used together frequently to determine the characteristics and trends of studies in a particular research field both quantitatively and qualitatively [24,25,26]. In this context, the data search, publication selection, data extraction, and analysis processes were carried out in this study as follows.

2.1. Data Search

In this study, Web of Science (WoS) was selected as the scientific research database from which the data were to be extracted via a search. WoS was preferred as the search database in this study due to its advanced search and data extraction options and its broad scientific publication network [27] covering various themes, categories, and indexes (SSCI, SCI-Expanded, AHCI, ESCI, etc.). Journals scanned by many indexes in social sciences and multidisciplinary fields are also included in WoS. In addition, in recent years, the WoS database has been the most preferred data source of researchers in review studies conducted in the field of social sciences [28,29].
No time period, language, or document type restrictions were applied in the search process in the WoS database. For comprehensive analysis [30,31], all types of academic studies (articles, conference papers, books, chapters, etc.) in the relevant literature were included in the database search. So, all document types were included in the search process.
A search was conducted in the title, abstract, and keyword fields (author keywords and keyword plus) in the WoS search options in order to extract and analyze the most relevant publications for this study. In each field, a search was conducted with the query terms (“sustainable” OR “sustainability”) AND “tourism” AND “augmented reality”.
In systematic review studies, the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) diagram is frequently used in the data search and selection processes. PRISMA comprises a four-stage review flow diagram. These stages in the flow diagram include identification, screening, an eligibility search, and inclusion, and have flexible structures that can be adapted according to data volume, quality, etc. All publications that provide relevant information and an abstract can be included in the analysis [32,33]. Accordingly, as a result of the document search process in WoS (Figure 1), a total of 61 publications were found to be eligible for bibliometric and systematic review.

2.2. Data Extraction

In this study, publications with relevant content were meticulously collected, and they were extracted from the WoS database. At the end of the document search process, 61 publications transferred to the marked list were saved in a plain text file (.txt) format. In addition, the WoS categories, numbers by year, published countries, journals and indexes, and sustainable development goals of the publications listed in the search results in WoS were downloaded as text document files (.txt).
In the next stage, the downloaded documents were imported into VOSviewer 1.6.20 software and prepared for bibliometric analysis. VOSviewer is a software that provides the functionality needed to visualize bibliometric networks [34]. Co-authorship, citation, and co-occurrence network analyses can be performed based on data downloaded from databases such as WoS, Scopus, and PubMed. In addition, detailed and zoomed-in visualization of bibliometric networks can be performed, high-resolution screenshots can be captured, and network clustering can be performed [35]. Thus, VOSviewer facilitates comprehensive and detailed visual mapping, making it possible to understand the relationships and properties between datasets more deeply.

2.3. Data Analysis

In VOSviewer, data analysis is initiated by loading the data extracted from the WoS database in a text document format into the software. During data analysis, it is possible to create a scientific publication network and perform visual mapping using VOSviewer. In addition, zooming and scrolling functions allow a detailed examination of a network map. Therefore, even if the number of items in the network is in the hundreds or even thousands, it is possible to perform accurate analyses and visualize them clearly [36]. In this study, 61 publications determined at the end of the data search and extraction processes in WoS were loaded into VOSviewer software, and analyses were performed in line with the purpose of this study. In the bibliometric analysis, co-authorship, keyword co-occurrence, bibliographic coupling, and co-citation analyses of cited references were performed between authors and countries with the help of visual mapping. In the network analysis, circle size, clusters with different colors, and link strength values were taken into account according to the frequency of occurrence, and data interpretation was performed.
The purposes of the 61 publications identified at the end of the data search process were analyzed and classified according to themes identified in the systematic review. Systematic literature review studies are qualitative syntheses that provide a deep understanding of a specific topic. Content analyses allow for the identification of trends, gaps, intersections, and directions in a specific research area and provide a guideline for future research [37]. In this study, by analyzing these 61 publications, trending topics, research themes, and the main study objectives were provided, and based on this, directions for future research and potential gaps were suggested.

3. Results

3.1. Bibliometric Analysis

3.1.1. Publication Distribution and Citations by Year

The yearly distribution and number of publications show the general status of the literature on a particular subject, the research trends, and the development rate [38]. WoS search results without time restrictions show that the publications on AR in sustainable tourism began in 2014 (Figure 2). It can be observed that this subject has been studied by researchers from this date to 28 December 2024. The average number of publications published per year is 5.5. Therefore, with the publications published since 2014, the subject of AR in sustainable tourism will tend to develop at its current rate.
It is noteworthy that the number of citations of publications on AR in sustainable tourism has increased steadily over the years. The total number of citations of such publications is 688, and the average number of citations per item is 11.28. This increase, which started in 2018, continued significantly until 28 December 2024. Based on graphical data, it is possible to state that the increasing trend in citations of publications in this field, which has become an important topic in recent years, will continue.

3.1.2. WoS Publication Categories

All publications in a journal are assigned to one of the WoS categories in which the journal is published. Therefore, the categories of published studies are determined at the journal level. Each journal covered by the WoS Core Collection is divided into one or more WoS categories. In the category assignment, the subject and scope of the journal must match the scope of the WoS categories [39]. WoS categories are considered an important reference source since they provide a basis for future research and use broad classification criteria [40].
In Figure 3, WoS categories with six or more publications are shown in a pie chart. The green sustainable science technology and hospitality leisure sport tourism categories are the dominant categories for these articles. Environmental sciences and environmental studies are two other important WoS categories. It is noteworthy that the published documents have a multidisciplinary nature.

3.1.3. Most Cited Authors and Co-Authorship Analysis

Citation counts are considered an objective quantitative indicator used to measure the performance and success of scientific publications, authors, and institutions. For this reason, citation counts are frequently used in bibliometric analysis studies to reveal the performance of elements in the relevant field [42]. The citation counts of the top 10 authors who received the most citations in publications on AR in sustainable tourism are presented in Figure 4.
According to Figure 4, Alexandra Bec, Chris Little, Brent Moyle, Vikki Schaffer, Liubov Skavronskaya, and Ken Timms are the most cited co-authors (163 citations), followed by Dongwook Kim and Sungburn Kim with 69 citations. The number of citations and the co-authorship density of the authors of publications on AR in sustainable tourism are important indicators of their performance in this field. Co-authorship is a formal means of collaboration in scientific research. As collaboration between authors increases, different scientific perspectives are developed, and the quality of scientific research also increases [21]. The co-authorship analysis of authors within the scope of this study is shown in Figure 5.
In the co-authorship analysis, the total strength of co-authorship links of 217 authors of publications on AR in sustainable tourism with other authors was calculated. Each link’s strength is indicated by a positive numerical value. The higher this value is, the stronger the link [43]. In the analysis performed, it was determined that 9 of the 217 authors in the network had a co-authorship relationship with others and that they were combined in a single cluster. The total number of connections in this cluster is 36, and the number of connections for each author is 8. It is noteworthy that the most cited authors are not present in this network in terms of the number of links.

3.1.4. Most Productive Countries and Number of Publications by Year

The countries where publications on AR in sustainable tourism were published, the number of these, and their distribution by year show the importance given to the subject on a global scale and the performance of the countries [38]. Figure 6 shows the distribution of publications by country and the number of studies.
Among the 33 countries in total, the countries with the most publications on AR in sustainable tourism are China (f = 9), Italy (f = 8), and Portugal (f = 8). These countries are followed by Spain with seven publications; the UK, Greece, and Taiwan with five publications; India and the Republic of Korea with four publications; Malaysia and Thailand with three publications; and Australia, Finland, Indonesia, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States of America with two publications. Sixteen countries (Bulgaria, Colombia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, France, Georgia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Morocco, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Romania, Russia, Tunisia, and Turkey) have one publication each on this topic.
Fourteen of these countries (Portugal, Italy, Greece, Spain, the UK, Bulgaria, Romania, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, and Finland) are from the European continent, twelve countries (China, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Pakistan, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan, the United Arab Emirates, Cyprus, Indonesia, Georgia, and India) are from the Asian continent, two countries (Russia and Turkey) are from the Asian/European continent, and two countries (Morocco and Tunisia) are from the African continent. One country (Colombia) is from the South American continent, one (Australia) is from Oceania, and one (the United States of America) is from North America. Therefore, it can be stated that the frequency of publications regionally is higher in European and Asian countries.

3.1.5. Most Cited Countries

Table 1 shows the total number of citations of the publications by country and the average number of citations per publication. These data are considered attractive raw data in evaluating the performance of the documents published in a certain field and subject [42]. Therefore, it can be stated that such data are an important indicator in evaluating the publication performance and quality of countries.
When the citation count data of the 10 most cited countries are examined, it can be seen that China, which is in first place, is far ahead of Australia, which is in second place with the closest number of citations. Among the top 10 cited countries, European countries are much more prevalent than those from other continents. Also, it is noteworthy that the number of citations for publications published in European countries is much higher than in Asian and other countries. When the data on ANC values are examined, Australia has the highest ANC value, despite having published fewer studies than other countries (China, Italy, the UK, etc.). This shows that each publication published in Australia receives more citations (the ANC is calculated by dividing the total number of citations by the total number of publications).
Based on bibliographic data collected from the WoS database, a co-authorship network map of countries was created (Figure 7). During mapping, the minimum document number was selected as one, and all countries were included in the analysis. Since 8 out of 33 countries had no link with any other country, co-authorship network analysis was performed using 25 countries. The total number of clusters in the network is six, and the number of links is 38. The UK stands out as the most centrally located country in the network analysis; the total number of countries it has a co-authorship relationship with is seven. Meanwhile, China, Malaysia, and the Republic of Korea have the same number of links, and Italy has five links. The countries with which these countries have a co-authorship relationship are shown in Figure 8. These countries can also be considered as leading countries in co-authorship collaboration.

3.1.6. Most Used Author Keywords

Keywords are nouns or terms that reflect the core content of a publication [44]. Analyzing high-frequency keywords helps to identify important and current topics in a particular research area [26]. Therefore, we decided that keyword occurrence analysis would be enlightening in understanding the prominent topics in publications on AR in sustainable tourism.
A total of 10 author keywords have a minimum occurrence frequency of three and more, and their TLS values are shown in Table 2. Accordingly, we determined that keywords such as cultural heritage, sustainability, and virtual reality are frequently used in publications on AR in sustainable tourism. TLS shows the strength of the co-occurrence links of a keyword with other keywords [36]. Accordingly, augmented reality, cultural heritage, and sustainability are the words with the highest TLS values and are the most used together with other keywords.

3.1.7. Co-Occurrence Analysis of Author Keywords

Overlay visualization in VOSviewer software is similar to network visualization except that items are displayed in different colors. These colors are determined according to the scores of the items. Here, the default color blue symbolizes lower scores, and colors from green to yellow symbolize higher scores [36]. Figure 9 shows the co-occurrence distribution of author keywords in publications on AR in sustainable tourism by year.
Out of 236 keywords, a total of 178 items with co-occurrence links with others were analyzed. The network obtained as a result of the analysis consists of a total of 23 clusters and 656 links. A larger circle size indicates that an item has a higher weight, and items located closer to each other indicate a closer relationship [36]. It is noteworthy that the keyword with the highest number of links (85 links) and occurrence count (f = 20) is “augmented reality”. This is followed by “tourism” (55 links), “cultural heritage” (52 links), and “sustainability” (52 links). These keywords have become central to studies published in this field in recent years, while the link scores of keywords such as “big data”, “metaverse”, “blockchain”, “artificial intelligence”, “technology”, “digital platforms”, and “innovation” started to increase in 2024. This provides information about the areas of interest and new trends in the subject recently.

3.1.8. Most Cited Publications

Citations of a publication show the information output that other publications refer to. Citation analysis determines how many times a publication is referenced by other publications, and an impact assessment can be made based on this [24]. Journals in which articles are published, their indexes, and impact factors are also shown as other important criteria in evaluating the impact of publications [45]. Table 3 presents the information of the 10 most cited publications, along with their TC and AC values, the journals in which they were published, journal/conference indexes, and JIF values.
According to Table 3, 9 of the 10 most cited publications are journal articles. The most cited article in this field was published in 2019 and has received a total of 164 citations, and its AC value is quite high compared to other articles. It is noteworthy that the least cited publication with the lowest AC value is a conference paper published in 2015. Another important detail to be considered is the fact that the 10 most cited publications were mostly published in SSCI-SCIE indexed journals.
In the most cited publications, topics such as the management of immersive tourism experiences [46], the sustainable development of accessible cultural heritage sites [54], the role of technology in sustainable tourism experiences [48,53], the role of AR technology in the development of sustainable tourism [47], and attitudes towards the use of AR [49] and AR technology in destination sustainability promotion [51,52,55] and branding [50] are discussed.

3.1.9. Co-Citation Analysis of Cited References

Co-citation analysis is performed to determine the number of references that are commonly cited by all publications included in the analysis [25]. As a result of the analysis, it was determined that the total number of references cited in publications on AR in sustainable tourism was 3330. The minimum number of citations of a reference was limited to two, and co-citation analysis was performed on 176 references accordingly.
The network in Figure 10 consists of a total of seven clusters and 4113 links. The red cluster (cluster 1) consists of 35 nodes, the green cluster (cluster 2) consists of 34 nodes, and the blue cluster (cluster 3) consists of 33 nodes (references). The total link strength of this network is 5048. When the clusters on the map are examined, it is seen that the article published by [57] is in a very central position in the green cluster (links = 125, total link strength = 2020), examining the value of augmented reality at cultural heritage sites. In the blue cluster, article [58] has 125 links and a total link strength of 219, presenting a review on new realities in tourism research. Article [59] in the red cluster has 94 links and a total link strength of 131, examining AR technology in the context of virtual reality (VR) applications.

3.1.10. Bibliographic Coupling Analysis

Bibliographic coupling is when two publications under bibliometric review cite the same reference. Each link has strength, and a higher link value indicates a stronger link [36]. The network (Figure 11) formed as a result of the bibliographic coupling analysis of publications on AR in sustainable tourism consists of a total of seven clusters and 199 links. The colors of these clusters indicate the number of items, from highest to lowest, with red (nine items) representing the highest number of items (cluster 1). In the green cluster (cluster 2), article [51] stands out as the strongest item, with 26 links in bibliometric coupling relationships. Ref. [46] is also noteworthy, with 163 citations and the biggest node in the same cluster. In the orange cluster (cluster 7), article [74] ranks second with 25 links.

3.1.11. Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, a total of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were determined by the United Nations General Assembly as part of the “2020 Agenda for Sustainable Development”. SDG classification, which was previously based on the title, abstract, or keywords of an article, was later determined by means of bibliographic coupling analysis according to cited articles [84]. Each goal is numbered between 1 and 17. In this way, WoS classifies publications according to SDGs categories.
The distribution of publications on AR in sustainable tourism published in WoS according to the SDGs is shown in Figure 12. Accordingly, the publications observed mainly have sustainability goals relating to the subjects of sustainable cities and communities, life on land, and quality education. There are 18 publications [46,48,50,52,85] in the sustainable cities and communities category; 8 publications [76,86] in the life on land category; 3 publications [49,77,87] in the quality education category; 2 publications in the climate action [77,88] and life below water [77,88] categories; and 1 publication each in the no poverty [89], zero hunger [77], good health and well-being [90], and responsible consumption and production [77] categories. It is noteworthy that the article conducted by [77] and published in Sustainability in 2023 belongs to six of the nine SDGs categories considered in this study. Therefore, this article can be considered a very valuable source for SDGs.

3.2. Systematic Review

3.2.1. Content Analysis of Publications

In recent years, both quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques have been used together to perform comprehensive analysis of academic studies published in a specific field. The detailed analysis of a specific research topic with a systematic review used together with bibliometric analysis makes it possible to understand the current status of the relevant literature and future trends [24]. Content analysis is performed to develop a deeper understanding and provide qualitative information about the publications analyzed using a systematic review [37]. In this study, the contents of 61 publications on AR in sustainable tourism were examined, the main themes and publication objectives were revealed, and qualitative data regarding the literature were obtained. The aims and references were stated under the themes determined as a result of the analysis of the publication contents.
According to Table 4, publications investigating the role of AR technology in supporting sustainable tourism education and enhancing tourists’ learning experiences constitute one of the six main themes obtained as a result of the analysis. The number of publications coded under this theme is six. Two other themes under which studies were most coded in this analysis (f = 15) were tourism experiences and cultural heritage tourism. Within the scope of the tourism experiences theme, studies have been conducted to understand the effect of AR technology in developing tourist experiences in areas such as sustainable tourism, cultural tourism, increasing destination attractiveness, and creating new and different sustainable tourism experiences. The publications aiming to examine the use of AR technology in preserving cultural heritage, enhancing its attractiveness, and ensuring its sustainable development fall under the main theme of cultural heritage tourism. The total number of publications coded under the theme of innovation that aim to examine how AR technology can be used as a tool in developing an innovative and sustainable tourism system is 11.
The 13 publications with the main theme of mobile AR applications generally aim to develop mobile-based AR applications, system models, or application suggestions in order to develop a sustainable ecosystem, create an attraction, revive destroyed or damaged elements, or create value-added tourist experiences in underwater diving activities. However, there is one study coded under the theme of data sharing and privacy issues, which aims to examine the difficulties experienced in terms of data sharing and privacy in the use of new technologies such as AR in tourism. When the content of the publications on AR in sustainable tourism is examined, the multidisciplinary nature of the published studies draws attention.

3.2.2. Future Research Agenda

The research agenda points out knowledge gaps in a particular field and presents suggestions based on gaps in the existing literature [123]. This is important in terms of laying the groundwork for and providing direction to future research. Potential gaps identified as a result of our systematic analysis of publications on AR in sustainable tourism are provided in the form of research questions under the determined themes (Table 5).
The analyses conducted within the scope of this study reveal important research gaps in the scientific research literature. For example, the lack of research on the role of technologies such as AR and VR in the development of sustainable tourism for individuals with disabilities, the determination of their attitudes, and how AR technology can be used to increase sustainability in accessible tourism constitutes a gap in the literature. There is a clear need for empirical and other studies to answer research questions on these topics. Another potential gap is related to the expansion of AR-supported applications in sustainable tourism, the development of artificial intelligence-supported applications, and the measurement of their effectiveness. However, the effects of AR-based sustainable tourism applications on demand increases for destinations, tourism revenues, and economic development can be viewed as topics that can be investigated both theoretically and empirically. Some authors, such as [6,93,106], have made contributions and achieved advances in these areas. However, these efforts are limited. The lack of academic studies investigating the effects of AR-based sustainable tourism applications in areas such as eco-tourism and responsible tourism, which are trending today, and developing a model proposal can be considered an important gap in the relevant literature.

4. Discussion

Rapid developments in technology have had a noticeable impact on the tourism sector in recent years. Today, digital technologies are recognized as a key enabler for the development of sustainable tourism, which is becoming increasingly important, and creating new opportunities for destinations. In addition, technology has begun to be used as a balancing tool in meeting the needs of tourists and local stakeholders by preserving the environment and cultural assets through sustainable tourism development [130]. Today, it is possible to observe that AR technology has started to attract attention in many areas, from marketing [3], understanding customer behavior [2], and creating new experiences [18,131] to the service sector [4] and ensuring the development of sustainable tourism destinations [7]. In today’s environment, where global tourism competition is increasing, sustainability and information about the use and role of new AR technology in sustainable tourism are very important for tourism professionals, policymakers, and destination management organizations. In this context, revealing the current status of the literature based on information obtained as a result of scientific research and determining the gaps and trends in the literature will contribute to the development of academic studies in this field. In this study, a comprehensive review study was carried out by performing a bibliometric and systematic analysis of publications on AR in sustainable tourism.
In this study, the development of AR publications in sustainable tourism based on the WoS database over time is examined. The analyses conducted reveal that studies on this subject have been published since 2014 and have increasingly attracted attention, with increasing numbers of publications and citations. Both AR technology [11,132] and sustainable development in tourism [18] have gained importance in recent years, which may be the reason why research has focused on this subject recently. Green sustainable science technology, hospitality leisure sport tourism, environmental sciences, and environmental studies are the WoS categories in which the studies published on this subject are mostly classified. Therefore, these categories in the WoS database are the largest source of academic publications on AR in sustainable tourism.
Sustainable cities and communities, life on land, and quality education represent the categories to which most of these publications belong in terms of their SDGs. In the systematic content analysis conducted in this study, it is also noteworthy that there are studies coded under the theme of education. Sustainable tourism education, sustainable development education, and the role of AR technology in visitor learning experiences are prominent themes in the content of these 61 studies. Technologies such as AR and VR, which were used as alternative tourism tools during the COVID-19 period, play an educational role in sustainable tourism development and the development of visitor experiences [133]. The most cited study is “Management of Immersive Heritage Tourism Experiences: A Conceptual Model”, and the authors of this article are Alexandra Bec, Brent Moyle, Ken Timms, Vikki Schaffer, Liubov Skavronskaya, and Chris Little. It was published in 2019 in the SSCI-indexed Q1 quartile Tourism Management journal. The most cited journals on this subject are SSCI-SCIE indexed. Therefore, it can be stated that publishing in indexed journals can increase the visibility of research studies on this subject.
Among all 33 countries that published studies on this subject, the most productive are China, Italy, and Portugal. It is understood from the analyses that the number of publications on this subject has increased recently, especially in European and Asian countries. However, China stands out in terms of its citation numbers and annual citations per publication. Italy is the other country that draws attention in terms of its publication productivity and citation counts. When the co-authorship network of these countries is examined, countries such as the UK, Republic of Korea, China, Italy, and Malaysia are the countries with the strongest co-authorship relationships and links. Therefore, it is clear that these countries should be taken into consideration in terms of co-authorship collaboration. Collaboration between authors from different countries and institutions is important for the international development of the literature in this field. For this reason, these data are important in planning collaboration for future research [22]. Particularly in relation to current multidisciplinary issues such as AR in sustainable tourism, both international and interdisciplinary collaboration can be considered as an inevitable necessity for the development of the field.
Keywords are one of the important indicators that provide an idea about the content of the research in a certain field. The frequency and co-occurrence of keywords reveal the research trends and main focus [28]. The keyword occurrence and co-occurrence analyses of the publications in this study show that in addition to the main keywords (augmented reality, sustainability, tourism, etc.), keywords such as cultural heritage, virtual reality, sustainable development, metaverse, and artificial intelligence are trending and frequently used. Therefore, sustainability in tourism has begun to be investigated in the relevant literature from different perspectives, in terms of different AR technology components and sustainable development. This can be interpreted as an indication that the development of and changes in this research field will continue. AR technology is developing and can be used in sustainable tourism development studies together with different technologies or in an integrated manner (VR, XR, AI, the metaverse, etc.) [8,134]. For this reason, as technological developments continue, it is possible that the essence and content of research in this field will also change. This study reveals the formation of changes, gaps in the literature, and the future trend of research topics.
While the most cited articles are important references for future research, the cited references provide information about the theoretical basis and content of published articles. In addition, qualitative information was obtained about the published articles using a systematic review. Thus, systematic content analysis combined with bibliometric analysis allowed for a deeper understanding of the 61 analyzed publications. Studies combining these two techniques are more attractive and provide detailed information in literature review studies today [24,25].

5. Conclusions

Based on our systematic review and bibliometric analysis data, the potential gaps identified in this study are thought to be important to current research developments in areas such as accessible tourism, responsible tourism, eco-tourism, and economic growth. This study has made a ground-breaking contribution to the development of the relevant literature by conducting a comprehensive review of publications on AR in sustainable tourism, which is currently a significant research area. Revealing the current situation, focal points, development direction, and trends through detailed quantitative and qualitative analysis of the published publications is important and valuable. This study provides a specific contribution to the relevant literature on AR in sustainable tourism. This study also can be considered an important reference for researchers in terms of providing more theoretical information on the subject and laying the groundwork for future research.
The most cited studies and authors, countries, keyword occurrence, and co-occurrence trends in publications on AR in sustainable tourism provide an idea about the current state of the literature. Theoretical development will continue with new academic studies, and the role of technology in sustainable tourism will become better understood. This study will help novice researchers who are new to academic research and experienced authors to better understand the theoretical framework on this subject. With the suggestions developed as a result of the findings of this study, it will be possible to increase national and international collaboration and research this subject on an interdisciplinary theoretical basis. Thus, awareness of studies on this subject can be increased in all fields of science.
The results obtained from this study can provide researchers with qualitative and quantitative information about the current status of AR-themed publications in sustainable tourism and can form a basis for further research. However, this study had some limitations. Only publications in the WoS database were included in this study, and other databases were not included. More detailed analyses can be performed on this subject in the future by including other databases. A more detailed analysis can also be applied by combining VOSviewer with other bibliometric analysis software (R 4.4.2 Bibliometrix, Citespace 6.4.R1, etc.).

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, K.G. and T.D.; methodology, F.E.; software, K.S.; validation, K.S. and T.D.; data curation, T.D.; writing—review and editing, K.G.; visualization, F.E.; supervision, F.E. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This research received no external funding.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University for the organizational and data support by providing the WoS database.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

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Figure 1. PRISMA flow diagram (adapted from [32,33]).
Figure 1. PRISMA flow diagram (adapted from [32,33]).
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Figure 2. Number of publications and citations by year.
Figure 2. Number of publications and citations by year.
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Figure 3. WoS categories of publications on AR in sustainable tourism [41].
Figure 3. WoS categories of publications on AR in sustainable tourism [41].
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Figure 4. Most cited authors.
Figure 4. Most cited authors.
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Figure 5. Co-authorship analysis of authors.
Figure 5. Co-authorship analysis of authors.
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Figure 6. Map of the most productive countries in the world (created with paintmaps.com, accessed at: 5 January 2025).
Figure 6. Map of the most productive countries in the world (created with paintmaps.com, accessed at: 5 January 2025).
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Figure 7. Co-authorship analysis of countries (england: the UK).
Figure 7. Co-authorship analysis of countries (england: the UK).
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Figure 8. Co-authorship links of the UK, China, Malaysia, Republic of Korea, and Italy with other countries (england: the UK).
Figure 8. Co-authorship links of the UK, China, Malaysia, Republic of Korea, and Italy with other countries (england: the UK).
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Figure 9. Co-occurrence overlay visualization of author keywords.
Figure 9. Co-occurrence overlay visualization of author keywords.
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Figure 10. Co-citation analysis of cited references [57,58,59,60,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,69,70,71,72,73].
Figure 10. Co-citation analysis of cited references [57,58,59,60,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,69,70,71,72,73].
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Figure 11. Bibliographic coupling analysis of articles [6,7,46,49,51,54,75,76,77,78,79,80,81,82,83].
Figure 11. Bibliographic coupling analysis of articles [6,7,46,49,51,54,75,76,77,78,79,80,81,82,83].
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Figure 12. SDG classification of publications.
Figure 12. SDG classification of publications.
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Table 1. Top 10 cited countries, number of publications, and ANC values.
Table 1. Top 10 cited countries, number of publications, and ANC values.
CountryCitation CountNumber of PublicationsANC * Per Publication
China239926.5
Australia165282.5
Italy126815.7
UK109521.8
Portugal100812.5
Republic of Korea96424
Spain70710
Greece3857.6
United States of America36218
Taiwan3256.4
* Average number of citations.
Table 2. Keyword occurrences and TLS values.
Table 2. Keyword occurrences and TLS values.
KeywordOccurrences *TLS **
augmented reality2039
cultural heritage1020
sustainability1019
tourism923
sustainable tourism710
virtual reality615
augmented reality (AR)56
sustainable development47
artificial intelligence311
metaverse34
* Three or more occurrences included. ** Total link strength.
Table 3. Most cited publications.
Table 3. Most cited publications.
Author(s) and Publication YearTitleTC *AC **Journal/
Conference		Journal/
Conference Index		JIF ***
Bec et al., 2019 [46].Management of Immersive Heritage Tourism Experiences: A Conceptual Model 16423.43Tourism ManagementSSCI10.9
Kim and Kim, 2017 [47].The Role of Mobile Technology in Tourism: Patents, Articles, News, and Mobile Tour App Reviews697.67SustainabilitySSCI-SCIE3.3
Santos et al., 2022 [48].Towards a Framework for the Global Wine Tourism System5511Journal of Organizational Change ManagementSSCI2.7
Zhuang et al., 2021 [49].Subjective Norms, Attitudes, and Intentions of AR Technology Use in Tourism Experience: The Moderating Effect of Millennials345.67Leisure StudiesSSCI2.3
Vela et al., 2017 [50].Visual Landscape as a Key Element of Place Branding333.67Journal of Place Management and DevelopmentESCI1.8
Graziano and Privitera, 2020 [51].Cultural Heritage, Tourist Attractiveness and Augmented Reality: Insights from Italy325.33Journal of Heritage TourismESCI3
Sorokina et al., 2022 [52].Constructing a Smart Destination Framework: A Destination Marketing Organization Perspective297.25Journal of Destination Marketing & ManagementSSCI8.9
Loureiro and Nascimento, 2021 [53].Shaping a View on the Influence of Technologies on Sustainable Tourism295.8SustainabilitySSCI-SCIE3.3
Bruno et al., 2020 [54].Digital Technologies for the Sustainable Development of the Accessible Underwater Cultural Heritage Sites203.33Journal of Marine Science and EngineeringSCIE2.7
Cirulis et al., 2015 [55].Virtualization of Digitalized Cultural Heritage and Use Case Scenario Modeling for Sustainability Promotion of National Identity201.82Conference on ICTE Regional DevelopmentCPCI-S-
Note: * TC: total citations; ** AC: average citations per year; *** JIF: journal impact factor (based on 2023 calculation). Source: [56].
Table 4. Systematic content analysis of publications.
Table 4. Systematic content analysis of publications.
Main ThemeAims and References
Education
(f = 6)		To reveal the role of mobile augmented reality games in sustainable development education and tourist experiences [83].
To analyze the need for sustainable tourism education and perceptions of AR usage in developing Islamic tourism [90].
To investigate the contribution of AR and VR technologies in educating tourists about regenerative tourism and their tendencies towards this type of tourism [77].
To explore the available training on offer regarding AR in the tourism sector in Europe [91].
To determine the role of AR technology in improving visitors’ awareness, satisfaction, and learning experiences in intangible cultural heritage exhibitions [82].
To educate visitors about the infrastructure of a park and attract attention toward conservation and sustainability [88].
Tourism Experiences
(f = 15)		To determine a framework for experience co-creation in cultural heritage tourism using AR technology [43].
To explore how AR technology can improve the sustainability of tourist attractions and how it can benefit businesses beyond enhanced visitor experiences [6].
To examine the role of AR in tourists’ sustainable tourism experiences [74].
To explore the capabilities of VR and AR in enhancing the tourism experience and addressing physical travel constraints [92].
To reveal the determinants of tourists’ behavioral intention to accept AR wearable smart glass [79].
To explore the impact of AR technology on the formation of memorable tourism experiences within the framework of the technology acceptance model [93].
To determine the factors that affect tourists’ tendency to use AR in their visit experiences [49].
Applying mobile-based AR solutions in cultural events to enhance leisure experiences for tourists and support a sustainable city environment [94].
To classify a piece of cultural heritage found in some ruins and produce a 3D virtual model using innovative technologies as a virtual museum [95].
To propose a conceptual model of heritage preservation for integrating heritage into digital tourism experiences [46].
To provide a comprehensive overview of the evolution of AR in tourism and tourist experiences [96].
To offer a sustainable, interactive exploration game involving historical sites, enhancing the visitor experience [97].
To understand how animals are imagined and experienced and whether AR offers a viable alternative for wildlife tourism [98].
To explore the effect of AR experience on increasing the attractiveness of scenic zones and the sustainable development of enterprises [99].
To present a mobile AR application designed to encourage tourists in Finland to consume local food and have new experiences [100].
Data Sharing and Privacy Issues
(f = 1)		To examine the current challenges relating to data sharing and data privacy in the metaverse environment, which includes technologies such as AR, VR, and the Internet of Things [101].
Cultural Heritage Tourism
(f = 15)		To reveal the role of technology (AR, VR, etc.) in sustainably improving the performance of both the tourism and cultural heritage sectors and their preservation [76].
To reveal the tourism resources of the Ribeira Sacra (Spain) and to present an updated inventory of cultural landscape of the region using AR technology [102].
To examine the preservation of traditional elements and factories with AR technology [103].
To reconstruct, preserve, and promote heritage and water resources with the help of AR applications and immersive technologies [104].
To explore the integration of AR technology within the realm of cultural heritage tourism and its influence on tourists’ heritage responsibility behaviors [105].
To investigate the contribution of studies in cultural heritage to sustainability and AR-supported tourism [106].
To show the possibilities of VR and AR usage in training and the promotion of cultural heritage for the benefit of the users [107].
To investigate the role of AI, natural language processing, and AR in reshaping heritage preservation, visitor engagement, and sustainable growth [89].
To develop a baseline design and the use of VR and AR to find recommendations for the sustainability of the national identity of countries via the prism of cultural heritage [55].
To establish a business model for Petrila Theme Park using modern technologies such as AR [108].
To explore the potential of AR and VR technologies to be applied in heritage preservation in Africa [87].
To examine the valorization of underwater cultural heritage through digital applications for the promotion of diving destinations [109].
To explore the antecedents of the behavioral adoption of an AR mobile travel app related to visiting a heritage site considering sustainability [80].
To synthesize existing knowledge on technology integration in heritage tourism and identify AR’s ability to enhance historical sites [110].
To provide a critical analysis of tourism, specifically, presenting a post-COVID-19 perspective of urban cultural tourism based on sustainability and alternative technologies [111].
Innovation
(f = 11)		To examine the impact of innovation in tourism within the scope of technologies such as AR and VR and to reveal the factors affecting the ability of businesses to manage innovation [112].
To reveal the innovations brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic in tourism and the effects of technologies such as AR and VR on tourism marketing [75].
To examine the intersection of AR and tourism applications through the analysis of the perceived value of innovative AR solutions for destination stakeholders [51].
To strengthen the ICT level of tourism, especially the concept of big data analysis-based smart villages and using smart technologies (AR, VR, mixed reality, etc.) for sustainability [113].
To conduct a comparative bibliometric analysis of studies examining the impact of new technologies (such as AR, VR, and artificial intelligence) on sustainable tourism development [53].
To apply the notion of innovative digital content such as 360-degree images, 3D models, and AR to preserving the added value of touristic products and delivering this to the customer [114].
To develop a new framework for developing an innovative global wine tourism system [48].
To propose a theoretical construct related to the current consumption of landscape as a key symbolic and physical element in territorial representation, facilitating the deployment of a place branding strategy [50].
To review the tourism literature on digital transformation, including themes such as AR, VR, AI, and big data technologies; sustainability; and innovation [85].
To identify how destination management organizations can facilitate the development and effective governance of smart innovations [52].
To identify the wine tourism sector’s adoption of AR/VR innovation practices [115].
Mobile AR Applications
(f = 13)		To develop an AR-based sustainable virtual tourism ecosystem and to reveal the geo-statistics of tourism regions [116].
To examine mobile AR applications as an innovative way to attract tourists to destinations [117].
To develop a mobile AR application where physical structures can be virtually simulated, viewed, and controlled to promote the historical and cultural value of Malolos’ Kameztizuhan [86].
To develop environmental devices carried out with augmented reality to promote cultural heritage activities in Pompeii [118].
To reveal the status of mobile technology in achieving sustainable and smart tourism [47].
To implement a mobile AR application to advocate for Chiang Mai moat areas by presenting information as an AR demonstration [7].
To develop the Geoapp mobile AR application to show the original forms of the filmed areas to visitors and to introduce these areas [78].
To develop a new mobile AR application to increase the sustainability of cultural tourism [81].
To explore an application enhancing the interaction of visitors with cultural heritage via a mobile device and AR technology [119].
To describe a mobile application (HUSH) designed for the promotion of geoheritage, focusing on the naturalistic value within urban areas [120].
To create value-added tourist experiences in underwater diving with mobile augmented diving AR and VR applications [54].
To analyze the literature on VR+ technologies (extended, mixed, hyper, and augmented) and sustainable tourism to extract a future research agenda [121].
To present the architecture of a MIRAR (Mobile Image Recognition based on Augmented Reality) application, which allows for the development of a system used to interact with a museum’s objects [122].
Table 5. Potential gaps and research questions on AR in sustainable tourism.
Table 5. Potential gaps and research questions on AR in sustainable tourism.
Potential GapResearch Questions
Accessibility
  • What are the views of individuals with disabilities on the contribution of technologies such as AR and VR to accessibility in sustainable tourism? [124]
  • What is the place for new technologies in sustainable tourism practices that can be developed in a way that includes individuals with disabilities? [125]
  • What are the challenges faced in the use of AR, VR, etc. in increasing the accessibility and sustainability of tourism attractions? [126]
Integrated Technologies
  • How can the integration of new technologies that can be used with AR in sustainable tourism be realized? [53]
  • What are the financial, technical infrastructure, and human resource requirements for the integration of technologies such as AR, VR, and artificial intelligence in the sustainability of destinations and tourism businesses? [20]
  • What are the attitudes of destination and tourism business managers and tourism stakeholders towards the integration and use of new technologies such as AR, VR, and artificial intelligence for sustainable tourism development? [112]
Eco-tourism
  • From the perspective of local people, tourism stakeholders, and tourists, what is the contribution of AR-based technologies to the protection of nature and natural touristic value and the development of eco-tourism? [16]
  • What are the applications that can be used and developed with AR in the development and sustainability of eco-tourism? [18]
  • What are the advantages and disadvantages of using new technologies in terms of the sustainability of eco-tourism? [6]
Economic Development
  • What is the impact of AR-based sustainable tourism applications on the economic development of tourism in destinations? [110]
  • What is the impact of AR-based sustainable tourism applications on tourism marketing and demand growth? [2]
  • What is the current and potential impact of AR, VR, and artificial intelligence-supported applications in tourism enterprises on long- and medium-term incomes? [75]
Responsible Tourism
  • What is the impact of AR-based applications on ensuring the protection–use balance of tourism resources? [127]
  • What is the impact of AR-based sustainable tourism applications on the development and education of responsible tourism awareness among tourists and local people? [128]
  • How can AR applications be used to prevent overtourism and minimize its effects within the scope of responsible tourism? [129]
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Ercan, F.; Sayın, K.; Dalgın, T.; Gençer, K. A Bibliometric and Systematic Review of Publications on Augmented Reality in Sustainable Tourism. Sustainability 2025, 17, 1508. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17041508

AMA Style

Ercan F, Sayın K, Dalgın T, Gençer K. A Bibliometric and Systematic Review of Publications on Augmented Reality in Sustainable Tourism. Sustainability. 2025; 17(4):1508. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17041508

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ercan, Fatih, Kürşad Sayın, Taner Dalgın, and Kansu Gençer. 2025. "A Bibliometric and Systematic Review of Publications on Augmented Reality in Sustainable Tourism" Sustainability 17, no. 4: 1508. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17041508

APA Style

Ercan, F., Sayın, K., Dalgın, T., & Gençer, K. (2025). A Bibliometric and Systematic Review of Publications on Augmented Reality in Sustainable Tourism. Sustainability, 17(4), 1508. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17041508

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