The concept of “creative tourism”, emerging at the century’s start, responds to the “creative turn” in tourist destinations, aligning with the evolving creative class, clusters, and cities. This study employs a bibliometric analysis to examine the evolution and academic focus on creative tourism over the past two decades. Using databases like Scopus and Web of Science, we analyzed key trends, thematic developments, and the impact of creative industries on tourism. Our study reveals significant growth in creative tourism research, emphasizing creativity’s role in enhancing tourism experiences and formulating sustainable, culturally rich models. It underscores the importance of integrating creative industries into tourism and the positive impact on local economies and community development. This analysis not only maps the academic trajectory of creative tourism but also highlights its practical implications for future tourism management and sustainable community development.

Cultural tourism, an important component of the wider tourism industry, has received significant attention due to the complex interplay between cultural heritage and tourism experiences. This form of tourism invites tourists to discover the arts, traditions, and lifestyles of diverse communities, thereby enriching intercultural encounters. Examining the rapidly evolving field of cultural tourism research, this article looks at its many facets, highlighting its growth, thematic focus, and global importance. In order to better understand the wealth and highlight the body of work, this study undertakes a bibliometric analysis of the concept of cultural tourism. This exploration employs bibliometric searching of journals indexed in the web of science database from 1996 to 2023, using the biblioshiny software in rstudio. This approach provides a global perspective, revealing a prolific and multidisciplinary production of the concept of cultural tourism. The study identifies a total of 369 articles published between 1996 and 2023, involving 781 authors and 244 journals. The results underline the widespread engagement with the subject across diverse scientific communities and geographical regions.

The field of tourism has recently undergone a revolutionary transformation, driven by the rapid expansion of digital platforms and the simultaneous rise of influencer culture. The convergence of these factors has led to a noticeable realignment in how tourists perceive travel destinations. Influencers now play a central role, leveraging genuine and superficial credibility and expertise in specific domains. This phenomenon has captured the attention of scholars, practitioners, and policymakers, catalyzing a wave of research aimed at delving into the multifaceted intersection of influencers and tourism. This article presents a comprehensive bibliometric analysis to examine the scholarly output related to influencers and tourism over the past decade. This methodology provides a comprehensive overview, unveiling an abundant and diverse work. The study identifies 196 articles published between 2005 and 2023, involving 504 authors across 123 journals. Cluster analyses highlight a dynamic and nuanced recomposition of subthemes, reflective of an evolving reality in the making.