Mapping Heritage Tourism Research Through Bibliometric Analysis and Focused Literature Coding: Toward a Sustainable Livelihood Pathway Framework

ABSTRACT

Using bibliometric analysis and focused literature coding, this study examines 720 Web of Science‐indexed articles on heritage tourism published between 2005 and 2024. It analyzes publication trends, collaboration networks, cocitation patterns, keyword co‐occurrence, cluster structures, time‐zone evolution, and burst terms to trace the field's development. Focused literature coding was used to translate major bibliometric clusters into five analytical layers: contextual conditions, capital configuration, transformation mechanisms, livelihood strategies, and sustainable livelihood outcomes. Building on these results, this study expands the sustainable livelihood framework by incorporating cultural/heritage capital and technological capital and proposes an integrated pathway for sustainable heritage tourism. The study moves beyond visual mapping by transforming bibliometric outputs into a theoretically grounded framework with implications for future research and sustainable heritage management.