Adventure tourism: current state and future research direction

Purpose This study aims to conduct a bibliometric analysis of previously published articles related to adventure tourism to assimilate the current trend, gaps in the literature and future research direction of this particular field. Design/methodology/approach A total of 585 documents were retrieved from the Scopus and Web of Science core collection for analysis using VOSviewer. Performance and science mapping analysis was performed to comprehensively review the adventure tourism publication. Findings The findings show that publication in this field is growing significantly. Cluster analysis using the co-citation of references method resulted in four broad research areas: risk in adventure tourism, adventure tourism motivation, adventure tourism experience and adventure tourism product development. Originality/value The study acts as an archive of adventure tourism publications. Potential authors can quickly comprehend what is expected and current happening in adventure tourism field. It can assist scholars in identifying gaps and possible future directions.