Trends and Focal Areas in the Scuba Diving Tourism Literature

Özet

This study examines dominant themes, emerging trends, and collaboration patterns in scuba diving tourism research to assess the field’s evolution and inform future studies. Using a qualitative document analysis design supported by bibliometric techniques, 250 publications indexed in the Web of Science database between 1993 and 2025 were analyzed with VOSviewer (v1.6.17). Keyword co-occurrence and country collaboration analyses reveal that the literature is structured around core themes such as coral reefs and dive tourism, marine protected areas, and resource management. Sustainability, stakeholder engagement, and marine ecology occupy central and strongly interconnected positions, while niche topics—such as anthropology, cryptic species, and localized case studies—remain peripheral. Temporal patterns indicate a growing emphasis on sustainability and tourism economics, alongside enduring interest in dive centers and marine tourism. International collaboration is organized around three main axes: a Pacific cluster led by Australia, Malaysia, and New Zealand; an Africa–Europe–Latin America corridor centered on South Africa; and smaller bilateral networks, including Türkiye–Wales. Overall, scuba diving tourism research has evolved into an interdisciplinary domain integrating ecological, economic, and socio-cultural perspectives, with sustainability and geographically concentrated international collaborations shaping its contemporary knowledge structure.