دانشکده جغرافیا- دانشگاه تهران نشریه گردشگری شهری 2423-6926 13 2 2026 08 03 Mapping the Knowledge Domain of Smart Tourism 2015-2024: Analysis of Trends, Collaboration Networks, and Conceptual Structure ترسیم نقشه دانش گردشگری هوشمند 2015-2024: تحلیل روندها، شبکه‌های همکاری و ساختار مفهومی 73 89 107015 10.22059/jut.2026.395779.1297 FA ذبیح الله ترابی گروه جغرافیا و برنامه‌ریزی روستایی، دانشکده علوم انسانی، دانشگاه تربیت مدرس، تهران، ایران 0000-0002-9347-2722 سمیرا علی پور گروه جغرافیا و برنامه‌ریزی روستایی، دانشکده علوم انسانی، دانشگاه تربیت مدرس، تهران، ایران ستاره مزجینی گروه جغرافیا انسانی و برنامه‌ریزی، دانشکده جغرافیا، دانشگاه تهران، تهران، ایران Journal Article 2026 03 14 <strong>A B S T R A C T</strong> The global proliferation of information and communication technologies, particularly in the tourism industry, has led to the emergence of the smart tourism paradigm, which has become a central theme in academic research. This study employs a bibliometric approach to provide a comprehensive overview of the knowledge structure and evolutionary trends within this field. By analyzing 487 articles from the Scopus databases over the period 2013–2024, the study reveals research patterns through three lenses: key authors, geographical distribution, and conceptual clusters. Findings indicate that the pivotal turning point for the growth of smart tourism research occurred in 2015, when foundational theoretical frameworks were developed by pioneering scholars such as Koo, Gretzel, Buhalis, and Xiang. The analysis of scientific collaboration networks highlights an uneven geographical distribution, with the United States, South Korea, China, the United Kingdom, and Spain leading in knowledge production. A co-occurrence mapping of keywords identifies five main conceptual clusters: smart technologies, destination management and development, tourist experience, competitiveness and cultural heritage, and ICT in hospitality. The results also point to a gradual shift from a narrow focus on technological infrastructure to more holistic approaches that consider human, social, and environmental dimensions. Identified research gaps include a lack of studies in rural and developing regions, limited in-depth qualitative research, and insufficient attention to ethical, security, and cultural authenticity issues. This study offers a roadmap for future research directions and practical implications for policymakers, destination managers, and tourism industry stakeholders. <strong>Extended Abstract</strong> <strong>Introduction</strong> The widespread adoption of information and communication technologies (ICT) globally has created a fundamental transformation in the tourism industry, giving rise to the smart tourism paradigm. Smart tourism, as an innovative concept that integrates advanced technological infrastructure with traditional tourism services, has created new opportunities for enhancing tourist experiences, optimizing destination management, and increasing competitiveness. This paradigm shift represents a convergence of digital transformation with traditional hospitality and tourism practices, enabling destinations to leverage real-time data, intelligent systems, and interconnected devices to create more personalized, efficient, and sustainable tourism experiences. The emergence of smart tourism has been particularly accelerated by technological advancements including Internet of Things (IoT), big data analytics, artificial intelligence, and mobile computing platforms. These technologies have not only transformed how tourists interact with destinations but also revolutionized destination management strategies, marketing approaches, and service delivery mechanisms. The COVID-19 pandemic further accelerated the adoption of smart tourism technologies, highlighting their crucial role in ensuring safety, managing capacity, and maintaining operational continuity. With the remarkable growth of research in this field over the past decade, encompassing diverse disciplines from computer science to hospitality management, there is a need for comprehensive understanding of knowledge structure, evolutionary trends, and research patterns. This study aims to map the knowledge domain of smart tourism during 2015-2024, identifying main research themes, analyzing scientific collaboration networks, and revealing the conceptual structure of this rapidly evolving field. <strong> </strong> <strong>Methodology</strong> This study adopts a descriptive-analytical approach using advanced scientific network analysis techniques to provide a comprehensive overview of smart tourism research landscape. Research data were systematically collected from reputable databases including and Scopus, covering publications from 2015 to 2024. The initial search strategy employed specific keywords related to smart tourism, smart destinations, and intelligent tourism systems, resulting in an initial dataset of over 800 publications. Following a rigorous screening process that included relevance assessment, duplicate removal, and quality evaluation, 487 articles were selected for final analysis. The methodological framework encompassed multiple analytical approaches: descriptive analysis of publication trends to identify temporal patterns and growth trajectories, co-citation analysis to map the intellectual structure and identify foundational works, co-word analysis to discover thematic clusters and conceptual relationships, and scientific collaboration network analysis to examine research partnership patterns and institutional connections. Advanced bibliometric software tools including VOSviewer for network visualization, CiteSpace for temporal analysis and burst detection, and Bibliometrix package in R environment were employed for comprehensive data analysis and scientific map generation. The analytical process also incorporated social network analysis techniques to examine author collaboration patterns, institutional partnerships, and cross-country research networks. <strong> </strong> <strong>Results and Discussion</strong> The comprehensive analysis revealed significant insights into the evolution and structure of smart tourism research. Publication trend analysis demonstrated that smart tourism experienced remarkable exponential growth from 2015, with a notable acceleration beginning in 2017 and peak publication volumes occurring during 2018-2020, followed by continued steady growth through 2024. This pattern reflects the maturation of the field and its integration into mainstream tourism research. Author productivity and impact analysis identified key influential researchers who have shaped the theoretical foundations of the field. Chulmo Koo emerged as the most prolific author with 22 articles and 1,691 citations, demonstrating exceptional research output and impact. Ulrike Gretzel, recognized as a pioneer in the field, contributed 11 articles with 1,472 citations, while Marianna Sigala, with 4 articles and 1,279 citations, showed remarkable citation impact per publication. Other significant contributors include Dimitrios Buhalis, Zheng Xiang, and Josep Ivars-Baidal, collectively forming the core intellectual community. Geographic distribution analysis revealed pronounced research concentration in technologically advanced economies, with the United States leading in citation impact (47 articles, 3,389 citations), South Korea showing highest productivity relative to population (51 articles, 2,542 citations), and China demonstrating the largest publication volume (138 articles, 1,989 citations). European countries, particularly Spain, Italy, and the United Kingdom, also contributed significantly to the knowledge base. The co-word analysis unveiled five distinct but interconnected thematic clusters that define the conceptual landscape: smart technologies cluster encompassing big data analytics, IoT applications, and artificial intelligence implementations; destination management and development cluster focusing on tourism management strategies, governance frameworks, and innovation processes; tourist experience cluster examining tourist behavior, personalization mechanisms, and service quality; competitiveness and cultural heritage cluster addressing destination positioning and heritage preservation; and ICT in hospitality cluster exploring technological applications in accommodation and service sectors. The concept "smart destination" with 374 occurrences and 503 link strength emerged as the most central and integrative concept, serving as a bridge connecting all thematic areas and demonstrating its fundamental role in the field's conceptual architecture. <strong> </strong> <strong>Conclusion</strong> This comprehensive knowledge mapping study demonstrated that smart tourism has undergone a remarkable transformation from a purely technological concept to a sophisticated, multidisciplinary paradigm that encompasses technological, managerial, experiential, cultural, and sustainability dimensions. The field has matured from initial technology-focused discussions to more holistic approaches that consider human factors, social implications, and environmental sustainability. Several critical research gaps were identified, including significant geographic imbalance favoring developed countries, insufficient representation of rural and heritage destinations, limited attention to developing country contexts, and inadequate focus on ethical considerations, privacy concerns, and digital divide issues. The temporal analysis revealed an evolution from infrastructure-focused research toward experience-centric and sustainability-oriented investigations. Future research directions should prioritize strengthening international collaborations to address geographic disparities, developing context-specific frameworks for diverse cultural and economic settings, intensifying focus on social equity and inclusion in smart tourism development, and advancing theoretical foundations through interdisciplinary approaches. The study's findings provide valuable insights for researchers, policymakers, destination managers, and industry practitioners, offering a roadmap for future investigations and practical applications in smart tourism development. Funding There is no funding support. <strong> </strong> <strong>Authors’ Contribution</strong> Authors contributed equally to the conceptualization and writing of the article. All of the authors approved thecontent of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work declaration of competing interest none. <strong> </strong> <strong>Conflict of Interest</strong> Authors declared no conflict of interest. <strong> </strong> <strong>Acknowledgments</strong> We are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this paper. فراگیری فناوری‌های اطلاعاتی و ارتباطی در عرصه جهانی، به ویژه در صنعت گردشگری، موجب ظهور پارادایم گردشگری هوشمند شده که اکنون به موضوعی محوری در پژوهش‌های علمی تبدیل گشته است. این مقاله با بهره‌گیری از روش کتاب سنجی، تصویری جامع از ساختار دانش و روندهای تکاملی این حوزه ارائه می‌کند. تحلیل 487 مقاله از پایگاه و Scopus  طی دوره زمانی 2013-2024، الگوهای پژوهشی را از سه منظر نویسندگان کلیدی، توزیع جغرافیایی و خوشه‌های مفهومی آشکار می‌سازد. یافته‌ها نشان می‌دهد نقطه عطف رشد پژوهش‌های گردشگری هوشمند سال 2015 بوده، هنگامی‌که چارچوب‌های نظری بنیادین توسط پژوهشگران پیشگامی همچون کو، گرتزل، بوهالیس و ژیانگ تدوین گردید. تحلیل شبکه همکاری علمی بیانگر توزیع نامتوازن جغرافیایی پژوهش‌هاست، به طوری که کشورهای ایالات‌متحده، کره جنوبی، چین، انگلستان و اسپانیا بیشترین سهم را در تولید دانش داشته‌اند. ترسیم نقشه هم‌رخدادی واژگان، پنج خوشه مفهومی اصلی را آشکار ساخت: فناوری‌های هوشمند، مدیریت مقصد و توسعه، تجربه گردشگر، رقابت‌پذیری و میراث فرهنگی، و فناوری اطلاعات و ارتباطات در میهمان‌نوازی. تحلیل‌ها همچنین نشان‌دهنده گذار تدریجی از تمرکز صرف بر زیرساخت‌های فناورانه به سمت رویکردهای جامع‌تر با توجه به ابعاد انسانی، اجتماعی و زیست‌محیطی است. شکاف‌های پژوهشی شناسایی‌شده شامل کمبود مطالعات در مناطق روستایی و کشورهای درحال‌توسعه، محدودیت پژوهش‌های کیفی عمیق، و توجه ناکافی به ابعاد اخلاقی، امنیتی و حفظ اصالت فرهنگی است. این پژوهش چشم‌اندازی برای جهت‌گیری تحقیقات آتی ترسیم می‌کند و پیامدهای عملی برای سیاست‌گذاران، مدیران مقاصد و فعالان صنعت گردشگری ارائه می‌دهد. https://jut.ut.ac.ir/article_107015_24b6c4cffb9c2615f965ead4c30480b2.pdf