Bibliometric Analysis of Heritage Tourism and Digital Technology Research: Trends, Themes, and Emerging Frontiers

This study presents a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of the intersection between heritage tourism and digital technology, highlighting prevailing trends, dominant themes, and emerging frontiers in the field. As heritage tourism increasingly integrates digital technologies to enhance preservation, interpretation, and visitor engagement, it becomes essential to map the scholarly landscape to inform future research and practice. Despite growing academic interest, a systematic and data-driven overview of this interdisciplinary domain remains limited. Addressing this gap, the study analysed 229 publications retrieved from the Scopus database, focusing on works published between 1997 and 2025. Using a combination of Scopus Analyser for initial data filtering, OpenRefine for data cleaning and standardisation, and VOSviewer for network visualisation, the research identified key authors, influential journals, collaborative networks, and thematic clusters. The analysis revealed a sharp increase in scholarly output over the last decade, with significant contributions from countries such as China, the United Kingdom, and Italy. Core research themes include virtual heritage, Augmented Reality (AR), smart tourism, and digital storytelling, with a notable rise in interdisciplinary collaboration. Citation and co-authorship analyses further highlighted strong international research linkages and the emergence of digital innovation as a pivotal axis in the discourse of heritage tourism. The study concludes that digital technology is not only transforming heritage tourism experiences but also reshaping scholarly dialogue through the evolution of research networks and conceptual frameworks. These findings provide valuable insights for academics, practitioners, and policymakers seeking to understand and contribute to this dynamic and rapidly evolving research frontier.