The hospitality & tourism frontline employee: A bibliometric analysis

Abstract

As the critical link between organizations and customers, the frontline employee is a core focus in hospitality and tourism (H&T) research. Given the broad scope of topics, systematic literature reviews have aimed to provide structure and organization. However, their focus on narrow topics has led to knowledge silos, limiting a holistic understanding of this literature and leaving critical gaps in interdisciplinary insights. To address this limitation, this paper presents a comprehensive systematic literature review using a bibliometric approach to deepen our understanding of H&T frontline employees. By analyzing 3527 papers authored by 5721 researchers across 68 peerreviewed journals spanning all publication years to date, the study highlights both the existing knowledge and the gaps within this research area. The study further examines scientific progression, thematic evolution, and directions for future research.