Over‐Tourism: A Review and Research Agenda

Managing tourism destinations is essential for ensuring the sustainable tourism development of both the tourism industry and the communities that host tourists and visitors. An issue which has risen in prominence in the post‐pandemic era is over‐tourism posing significant threats to the environment, economy, and social well‐being of destinations, and highlighting the urgent need to deal with these challenges. This study conducts a systematic literature review using bibliometric analysis of 172 studies identified and retrieved from Scopus, focusing on the domain of “over‐tourism”. This serves as a conduit binding the fragmented past, present, and future of tourism management, presenting an organized framework that highlights the characteristic theoretical underpinnings associated with the framework. Beyond offering a panoramic perspective of key resources encompassing journals, authors, countries or territories, and institutions, this study delves deeply into predominant clusters/themes surrounding over‐tourism. These clusters/themes highlight key applications from approaches to managing over‐tourism, governance and policy responses to community and social aspects of tourism. At the heart of this discourse lies the implications of the study, highlighting the significance of smart cities in rural destinations and extended reality (XR) in urban areas to engage tourists in responsible tourism practices.