A CONTEMPORARY BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF CULINARY TOURISM LITERATURE

Abstract

Culinary tourism is recognized in academic literature as an initiator of cultural revitalization, social and economic development, as well as a source of recreation, entertainment, socializing and learning. Due to the increasing interest of the academic community in this topic, this paper refers to an evaluative bibliometric analysis of the contemporary culinary tourism literature published in the WoS category: Hospitality Leisure Sport Tourism. The aim of the paper is to provide an insight into the current state and dynamics of the development of this field through a detailed analysis of the intellectual structure of culinary tourism, the predominant research topics, the applied research methodology and the most influential articles, authors and academic journals. A critical review of the literature published in the previous decade will enable to identify research gaps as well as to suggest directions for future research whose implementation would bring the field of culinary tourism closer to the stage of maturity and roundness of scientific thought. The sublimation of the culinary tourism literature published in the most prestigious academic journals over the past decade should provide the basis for further research efforts and discussions by the academic community.