The CajaCanarias-Ashotel Tourism Chair at the University of La Laguna has presented the third edition of Bibliometric Report on Scientific Production in Tourism (2010–2025), a comprehensive analysis of academic research in this field based on the international database SCOPUS.
The study reveals that between 2010 and September 2025, researchers at the University of La Laguna (ULL) published 313 scientific articles on tourism, which received a total of 5,410 international citations. In 2025 alone, 46 articles are projected, a figure similar to the record high of 2021, when global production was boosted by the pandemic.
The report highlights sustained growth in tourism research at the University of La Laguna. After a more moderate start in the period 2010-2015, scientific output has multiplied, positioning the institution as a national and international leader in tourism.
Research has not only increased in volume but also in academic impact. The most cited articles address highly topical issues, such as the digitization of the tourist experience—with pioneering studies on the use of chatbots and social media—, the sustainability of destinations, the impacts of tourism, and the effects of climate change on island territories.
The work of the ULL is also characterized by its multidisciplinary nature. 311% of the articles are located in the area of Social Sciences, 211% in Business & Management, and 161% in Environmental Sciences, which confirms the transversality of tourism as a field of study and its connection with the social, environmental, and technological sciences.
The report also confirms the broad participation, with 37 researchers having published at least six articles related to the tourism sector since 2010. It is worth remembering that many of them also develop lines of work not directly linked to tourism and that, moreover, in recent years there has been a renewal in the profile of the most prolific authors, with the progressive incorporation of younger researchers.
Regarding quality, a large proportion of the articles are published in high-impact international journals (Q1 in SCOPUS and JCR), such as Tourism Economics, Current Issues in Tourism, Journal of Destination Marketing and Management, which reflects the global relevance of scientific contributions.
The report also highlights the close collaboration with other institutions, notably the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the Canary Islands Volcanological Institute, and international universities in the US, UK, and Portugal. These partnerships strengthen a scientific network with strong island roots and, at the same time, a global reach.
Among the entities that have funded research projects that have given rise to many of these works, the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (through national projects), the CajaCanarias Foundation and the Canary Agency for Research, Innovation and Information Society of the Government of the Canary Islands stand out, with the support of European funds.
Finally, the report underscores the connection with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A significant portion of the work aligns with SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), and SDG 14 (Life Below Water), reinforcing the focus on sustainability, innovation, and ecosystem protection.
The director of the Chair of Tourism, Raúl Hernández Martín, highlights that these results confirm that “the University of La Laguna is at the forefront of tourism research, not only for the quantity and quality of its publications, but also for its contribution to global debates on sustainability, innovation and governance of destinations.”.
For their part, the authors of the report emphasize that the rejuvenation of the teaching staff and the consolidation of local and international research networks bode well for the future of tourism research in the Canary Islands.
The Chair of Tourism is a knowledge network that promotes research, training and knowledge transfer in the tourism field, with a commitment to contribute to the sustainable development of the sector in the Canary Islands.
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