Mapping Heritage Tourism Knowledge in Contemporary Iran: A Network and Spatial Analysis

Studies on heritage tourism have received much attention in recent years, especially in Iran. This paper presents a comprehensive bibliographic review of Iranian heritage tourism research over the last thirteen years. The study takes advantage of the Geographic Information System (GIS) and VOSviewer bibliometric software to analyze the trend of heritage tourism studies from a geographical and thematic perspective. The results reveal that there is a significant ascending trend in the annual number of published articles on the field of heritage tourism starting from 2019. Moreover, the two provinces of Isfahan and Mazandaran made the greatest contributions to the research. Based on the analytic framework of our literature, 17 macro-categories were derived from the reviewed papers that accord with the development levels of studies on heritage tourism in different provinces. The analytical framework of the studies identifies three dominant orientations: (i) a natural-heritage predominance with a strong emphasis on eco-tourism and geo-tourism; (ii) development-oriented framings centred on growth, branding, and resilience; and (iii) a metropolitan and provincial concentration of study sites, particularly along the Isfahan–Mazandaran provinces. The implications of this study highlight the need for future improvements in the research relating to smart tourism aligned with the heritage context. This paper facilitates the researchers’ access to the collection of tourism studies by type and provides valuable insights into its prospects.