Interdependence and complementarity between rural development and rural tourism: a bibliometric analysis

ABSTRACT Rural tourism is a vital means of rural development. There exist a great deal of interdependence and complementarity between the two. Rural tourism offers an alternative attraction of rurality as a diversification and regenerative strategy to bring about socio-economic development with minimal adversity. This research presents advancements in research trends for rural tourism and rural development during 2001–2020 by critically reviewing and analysing published academic literature. A systematic bibliometric analysis was conducted on the literature retrieved from the Scopus database using the VOS Viewer software tool. Using the specific keywords “Rural Tourism” and “Rural Development,” 225 articles were reviewed and analysed. The results show that studies concerning these keywords have gained momentum and wider acceptability after 2010. China tops the list in publishing most research articles, followed by Spain and Italy. Research findings provide a comprehensive assessment of academic productivity.