Extended Abstract



Introduction

The metaverse has emerged as a transformative technology to reshape how tourism experiences are created, delivered, and managed with considerable potential. Through the integration of virtual reality, augmented reality, and interactive three-dimensional environments, it enables new forms of tourist experience, destination marketing, service provision, and visitor engagement. In the tourism industry, the metaverse has enabled reality–virtuality interaction through active user participation in immersive experiences and has become a powerful tool for promoting destinations. Tourism is expected to increasingly leverage metaverse technologies—particularly mixed reality—to develop innovative hybrid experiences that integrate the physical and virtual worlds and transform traditional practices across the entire tourism value chain. Despite the rapid expansion of research on the metaverse and tourism, much of the existing literature remains either conceptual or narrowly applied. As a result, a coherent understanding of the field’s knowledge structure, conceptual evolution, connection with the tourism industry, and patterns of scientific and geographical participation is still underdeveloped. The distinctiveness of the present study lies in its simultaneous focus on conceptual evolution, industrial integration, and geographical participation, together with the identification of an unbalanced pattern of field evolution. Accordingly, the rationale for the present study lies not in the absence of bibliometric research on metaverse and tourism, but rather in the need for a deeper understanding of how the field’s knowledge structure has evolved and how its conceptual, industrial, and geographical dimensions are interconnected. Based on this, the study seeks to move beyond a descriptive account of publication growth by examining the evolution of knowledge within the field of metaverse and tourism and elucidating potential gaps among conceptual convergence, industry integration, and geographical participation. In doing so, it aims to provide a basis for guiding future research and informing science and technology policymaking in Iran. Its aims predominantly to identify the conceptual structure and temporal trends of the field, examine the relationship between metaverse and tourism concepts and the tourism industry, analyze author networks and international scientific collaboration, assess the geographical distribution of research, and identify future research directions - with particular attention to the Iranian context.

Methodology

This study is descriptive-analytical in purpose and bibliometric in design. The dataset comprised scientific documents indexed in Scopus between 2015 and February 2025. Scopus was selected because of its extensive and high-quality coverage of sources in the social sciences, technology, and tourism; its greater comprehensiveness for emerging and interdisciplinary topics; its excellent compatibility with bibliometric analysis tools; and its more diverse geographical coverage. A search was conducted across titles, abstracts, and keywords using combinations of the terms metaverse, virtual reality, and tourism. After applying filters for language (English), document type, and subject area, 151 documents were retained for analysis. The search string was constructed using the Boolean operators OR and AND as follows: (TITLE-ABS-KEY (“metaverse”) OR TITLE-ABS-KEY (“virtual reality”)) AND (TITLE-ABS-KEY (“tourism”) OR TITLE-ABS-KEY (“metaverse tourism”)). Filters were applied for English language, document type (journal articles, reviews, and books), and subject areas (Social Sciences, Business, Management, and Arts and Humanities). After the harmonisation and merging of synonymous terms (e.g., Metaverse and Metaverses), a co-occurrence matrix was generated and scientific maps were produced to identify thematic clusters and link strengths. In the co-authorship analysis, researchers, institutions, or countries were linked on the basis of the number of jointly authored publications. This design enabled the simultaneous examination of conceptual structure, scientific performance, and geographical patterns, while also enhancing the clarity of the resulting visualisations and analyses. Conceptual structure and co-authorship networks were examined using VOSviewer, while descriptive indicators, publication trends, author and source performance, and country-level collaboration were analyzed with the bibliometrix package in R via the Biblioshiny interface. Co-word analysis and co-authorship analysis formed the two primary strands of the network analysis.

Findings

The findings indicated that the dataset comprised 151 documents drawn from 77 different sources. The annual growth rate of scientific output was 21.28 %, the average document age was 1.3 years, and the mean number of citations per document was 25.21. The total number of references was 9,753, the number of unique authors was 437, and the average number of co-authors per document was 3.32. International co-authorship was observed in 37.75 % of the documents. Scientific output in metaverse and tourism research increased markedly from 2022 onwards. The number of publications rose from 6 in 2022 to 36 in 2023 and 96 in 2024, with a further 12 documents recorded in the first two months of 2025. Sankey diagrams revealed three principal flows: in the general metaverse domain, Buhalis and the journal Information Technology and Tourism; in metaverse tourism, Ariza-Montes and Tourism Review; and in virtual reality, Dwivedi and the International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management occupied central positions. The co-occurrence map displayed four distinct clusters. The green cluster (foundational concepts), containing virtual worlds, education, hospitality, and the tourism industry, addresses the redefinition of fundamental paradigms. The red cluster (technology integration) centres on augmented reality, engagement, marketing, and tourism management and emphasises the enrichment of experience at physical destinations. The purple cluster (immersive technologies and sustainability) highlights the direct link between virtual reality and sustainable development, treating VR not as entertainment but as a means of reducing environmental pressure and protecting cultural heritage. The yellow cluster (final convergence) represents the integration of metaverse tourism, virtual tourism, and sustainable tourism as an independent paradigm. “Metaverse” occupied the network core with 92 occurrences, 18 links, and a Total Link Strength of 117. The conceptual structure of the field coalesced around four main clusters: foundational concepts of the metaverse and the tourism industry; technology integration and experience management; immersive technologies and sustainability; and the convergence of metaverse tourism, virtual tourism, and sustainable tourism. Within the conceptual network, “Metaverse” occupied the most central position, followed by “Tourism” and “Virtual Reality”. The terms “Metaverse Tourism” and “Engagement” gained increasing prominence in more recent years. Overlay visualisation showed that from 2024 onwards the concepts of metaverse tourism and engagement rose simultaneously, signalling a shift in research focus from the nature of the technology toward the design of deep and meaningful experience. By contrast, “Tourism Industry” displayed only three links, compared with fourteen for the broader term “Tourism”. The co-authorship network revealed that knowledge production is concentrated around a relatively small group of highly productive and highly cited scholars. Buhalis ranked highest in both document count and citations, while Sigala recorded the highest Total Link Strength. In the co-authorship network, Buhalis (6 documents, 1,089 citations) functioned as the principal hub. Sigala, despite having only two documents, recorded the highest Total Link Strength (31) and thereby played a bridging role. Hao, with four documents, did not appear on the map owing to the absence of collaboration. At the country level, scientific production was concentrated in a limited number of nations, and the international collaboration network comprised 186 collaborations among 37 countries. China (67 documents) and India (63) led production. Turkey, with 24 documents, headed the Middle Eastern region. India initiated the largest number of international collaborations (38), while Australia ranked highest as a target country (16). The strongest bilateral link was between India and the United Kingdom (6 collaborations). No Iranian contribution was identified in either scientific output or the international co-authorship network within the dataset.

Discussion

Taken together, the findings indicate that the evolution of research on the metaverse and tourism cannot be adequately assessed solely by the growth in publication volume or the proliferation of related concepts. The four conceptual clusters point to the emergence of interconnected domains linking technology, tourism, sustainability, and user experience. Nevertheless, the weak connectivity of “Tourism Industry” suggests that conceptual development has outpaced the practical integration of the metaverse into the structures and operations of the tourism industry. Similarly, the geographical concentration of both production and collaboration indicates that the global diffusion of knowledge has been uneven. The central interpretive contribution of this study is therefore the identification of an unbalanced pattern of evolution, in which conceptual convergence between the metaverse and tourism has advanced more rapidly than industry-oriented integration or balanced geographical and scientific participation.

This unbalanced pattern is consistent with recent findings on the role of engagement in user retention within metaverse environments. The social structure of knowledge production is also heterogeneous: some authors combine high output with limited network connectivity, while others, with lower output, perform strong bridging functions. Iran’s absence from the international network does not signify a complete lack of research but rather a weak presence in indexed production and transnational collaboration. This gap may stem from limited access to advanced technologies, insufficient targeted investment in interdisciplinary domains, challenges in establishing international partnerships, or researchers’ concentration on other fields. The collaboration network exhibits a star-like structure in which one or more countries act as central hubs and others function as peripheral nodes. Nevertheless, the existence of independent foci such as the China–Korea axis and the strong United Kingdom–United States links indicates a movement toward a multipolar research environment.

Conclusion

This study demonstrates that research on the metaverse and tourism is currently in a phase of rapid expansion and gradual consolidation, with its conceptual structure moving toward stronger connections among the metaverse, tourism, sustainability, and engagement. However, this evolution has not yet been matched by equivalent progress in industry integration or in the global distribution of knowledge production. Future research should therefore move beyond an exclusive focus on technological potential and place greater emphasis on problem-oriented and industry-focused research, empirical investigations of user experience and engagement, interdisciplinary approaches, international collaboration, and critical examinations of social, cultural, ethical, and privacy implications. For Iran, strengthening participation in international research networks and developing studies grounded in the practical challenges of the national tourism industry would enhance its capacity to engage meaningfully with the ongoing transformation of the field.

Specific recommendations for the Iranian scholarly community include a shift from predominantly conceptual studies to problem-oriented research on digital business models, value-chain transformation, service design, standardisation, and risk management; interdisciplinary investigations of interaction patterns and user experience that incorporate psychological, social, and cultural dimensions; the expansion of international collaboration with countries such as India, the United Kingdom, and Turkey; futures studies and scenario planning that simultaneously consider technological, economic, social, and policy variables; and critical research on social, ethical, cultural, privacy, and identity implications. For policymakers, the establishment of coordination mechanisms among tourism, technology, communications, and higher-education institutions, support for applied research, and the design of human-resource empowerment programmes are recommended. The tourism industry can benefit from pilot projects evaluating metaverse applications in marketing, visitor experience, and service delivery, and from strengthened collaboration between tourism businesses and technology firms to develop hybrid physical–digital (phygital) services. Universities can facilitate the participation of domestic researchers in global scientific networks by creating joint research platforms and strengthening international linkages. Limitations of the study include reliance on a single database (Scopus), which does not provide complete coverage of publications in other languages or local journals; the high dynamism of the field, which excludes publications appearing after February 2025; and residual challenges in the standardisation of author names and synonymous keywords.

Funding

There is no funding support.

Authors’ Contribution

Reza Moradi Romghani (first author) was responsible for conceptualizing the study, as well as drafting and editing all sections of the manuscript. Mohammadreza Rezaei (corresponding author) was responsible for critically reviewing the manuscript and providing guidance and consultation throughout various stages of the research. Hojatollah Rahimi (third author) was responsible for critically reviewing the manuscript and providing guidance and consultation throughout various stages of the research. Bahar Beishami (fourth author) was responsible for critically reviewing the manuscript and providing guidance and consultation throughout various stages of the research.

Conflict of Interest

Authors declared no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to express their sincere gratitude to everyone who contributed to this research, particularly those who were involved in assessing the quality of the manuscript.