Establishing the Theoretical Foundations of Metaverse-Sustainable Tourism Nexus. Mapping the Research Front

The tourism sector is widely recognized as a pivotal catalyst for global development and economic growth. However, it faces significant challenges, which have intensified the search for alternative and more sustainable tourism models. Digital technologies have become essential tools for transformati...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: López Cabarcos, María Ángeles, López Carballeira, Analía, Miramontes Viña, Vanessa
Formato: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2026
País:España
Recursos:Universidad de Santiago de Compostela (USC)
Repositorio:Minerva. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Santiago de Compostela
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:dnet:minerva_____::b8341f04bf54f795b7b707905c31bbe0
Acesso em linha:https://hdl.handle.net/10347/46557
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:Digital technologies
Metaverse
Sustainable tourism
Bibliometric analysis
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spelling Establishing the Theoretical Foundations of Metaverse-Sustainable Tourism Nexus. Mapping the Research FrontLópez Cabarcos, María ÁngelesLópez Carballeira, AnalíaMiramontes Viña, VanessaDigital technologiesMetaverseSustainable tourismBibliometric analysisThe tourism sector is widely recognized as a pivotal catalyst for global development and economic growth. However, it faces significant challenges, which have intensified the search for alternative and more sustainable tourism models. Digital technologies have become essential tools for transformation, with the metaverse emerging as a disruptive and promising innovation strategy for the tourism industry. Thus, this study aims to provide a comprehensive review of all previous scientific literature related to the adoption of the metaverse in the context of sustainable tourism, developing a bibliometric analysis (through techniques such as co-citation analysis of references and author keyword co-occurrence) of all articles indexed in Web of Science database from January 2021 to September 2025. Specifically, the references co-citation analysis has concluded three main thematic clusters related to conceptual foundations, technological advances, and metaverse adoption possibilities, respectively. The results obtained indicate that research on the metaverse in sustainable tourism is still at an early stage of development and is primarily conceptual in nature. This study contributes to the emerging research field of metaverse and sustainable tourism by offering a comprehensive review to establish its theoretical foundations and identify opportunities for future research.MDPIUniversidade de Santiago de Compostela. Departamento de Economía Financeira e ContabilidadeUniversidade de Santiago de Compostela. Departamento de Organización de Empresas e Comercialización20262026-03-0720262026-03-07journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501VoRhttp://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85info:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttps://hdl.handle.net/10347/46557reponame:Minerva. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Santiago de Compostelainstname:Universidad de Santiago de Compostela (USC)Inglésengopen accesshttp://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2Attribution 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:dnet:minerva_____::b8341f04bf54f795b7b707905c31bbe02026-06-15T12:47:27Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Establishing the Theoretical Foundations of Metaverse-Sustainable Tourism Nexus. Mapping the Research Front
title Establishing the Theoretical Foundations of Metaverse-Sustainable Tourism Nexus. Mapping the Research Front
spellingShingle Establishing the Theoretical Foundations of Metaverse-Sustainable Tourism Nexus. Mapping the Research Front
López Cabarcos, María Ángeles
Digital technologies
Metaverse
Sustainable tourism
Bibliometric analysis
title_short Establishing the Theoretical Foundations of Metaverse-Sustainable Tourism Nexus. Mapping the Research Front
title_full Establishing the Theoretical Foundations of Metaverse-Sustainable Tourism Nexus. Mapping the Research Front
title_fullStr Establishing the Theoretical Foundations of Metaverse-Sustainable Tourism Nexus. Mapping the Research Front
title_full_unstemmed Establishing the Theoretical Foundations of Metaverse-Sustainable Tourism Nexus. Mapping the Research Front
title_sort Establishing the Theoretical Foundations of Metaverse-Sustainable Tourism Nexus. Mapping the Research Front
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv López Cabarcos, María Ángeles
López Carballeira, Analía
Miramontes Viña, Vanessa
author López Cabarcos, María Ángeles
author_facet López Cabarcos, María Ángeles
López Carballeira, Analía
Miramontes Viña, Vanessa
author_role author
author2 López Carballeira, Analía
Miramontes Viña, Vanessa
author2_role author
author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv Universidade de Santiago de Compostela. Departamento de Economía Financeira e Contabilidade
Universidade de Santiago de Compostela. Departamento de Organización de Empresas e Comercialización
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Digital technologies
Metaverse
Sustainable tourism
Bibliometric analysis
topic Digital technologies
Metaverse
Sustainable tourism
Bibliometric analysis
description The tourism sector is widely recognized as a pivotal catalyst for global development and economic growth. However, it faces significant challenges, which have intensified the search for alternative and more sustainable tourism models. Digital technologies have become essential tools for transformation, with the metaverse emerging as a disruptive and promising innovation strategy for the tourism industry. Thus, this study aims to provide a comprehensive review of all previous scientific literature related to the adoption of the metaverse in the context of sustainable tourism, developing a bibliometric analysis (through techniques such as co-citation analysis of references and author keyword co-occurrence) of all articles indexed in Web of Science database from January 2021 to September 2025. Specifically, the references co-citation analysis has concluded three main thematic clusters related to conceptual foundations, technological advances, and metaverse adoption possibilities, respectively. The results obtained indicate that research on the metaverse in sustainable tourism is still at an early stage of development and is primarily conceptual in nature. This study contributes to the emerging research field of metaverse and sustainable tourism by offering a comprehensive review to establish its theoretical foundations and identify opportunities for future research.
publishDate 2026
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2026
2026-03-07
2026
2026-03-07
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv journal article
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
VoR
http://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85
dc.type.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
format article
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv https://hdl.handle.net/10347/46557
url https://hdl.handle.net/10347/46557
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
eng
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
language eng
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
Attribution 4.0 International
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.rights.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
Attribution 4.0 International
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv MDPI
publisher.none.fl_str_mv MDPI
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:Minerva. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Santiago de Compostela
instname:Universidad de Santiago de Compostela (USC)
instname_str Universidad de Santiago de Compostela (USC)
reponame_str Minerva. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Santiago de Compostela
collection Minerva. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Santiago de Compostela
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