A 30-year journey of hospitality and tourism research: a comprehensive topic modeling analysis

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to provide an overview of the research conducted on hospitality and tourism articles published in Q1 category journals from 1990 to 2023. This study also aims to measure the topic prevalence in selected journals throughout the years, their change over time and similarities of journals.Design/methodology/approachLatent dirichlet allocation algorithm is used as a topic modeling method to identify and analyze topics in hospitality and tourism research over the past 30 years.FindingsThe results of the study indicate that hospitality and tourism research has recently focused on topics such as employee behavior, customer satisfaction, online reviews, medical tourism and tourist experience. However, the results also indicate a negative trend in topics such as hotel management, sustainability, profession, economic growth and tourist destination.Practical implicationsThis study can be used to examine the evolution of research patterns over time, find hot and cold themes and uncover untapped or understudied areas. This can aid academics in their investigations and practitioners in making sound strategic decisions.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the existing literature by providing a new approach and comprehensive analysis of hospitality and tourism research topics. It delineates an overview of the progression of hospitality and tourism research over the past 30 years, identifies the trending topics and explores the potential impacts that these identified topics may have on future studies.