A Bibliometric Mapping of The Role of Universal Design in Tourism Literature

The tourism industry has been criticised for failing to ensure equal access for all population groups, including the estimated one billion people worldwide living with disability. In response, accessible tourism has emerged as a recognised field, though its focus has remained predominantly oriented towards disability-specific needs. This study examines a complementary but distinct approach: Universal Design (UD), a principle-based framework asserting that environments, products, and services should be usable by all people without adaptation or specialised design. The study investigates how this concept has been developed within tourism research literature. Through a bibliometric analysis of scientific publications indexed in the Scopus database from 2007 to 2025, this study maps the evolution and current state of academic research on UD in the tourism literature. The methodology combines three different analytical approaches: descriptive analysis, publication trend analysis, and network and co-word analysis. Using VOSviewer, we conducted analyses to identify research hotspots and examine the relationships between key terms. Literature shows that while the number of publications has increased, research on UD in tourism remains fragmented and dispersed across disciplines. However, a notable finding is the greater degree of connectivity and thematic coherence within case-study-based research. This suggests that real-world applications may be driving more integrated exploration of UD in tourism. The study offers valuable insights for both theoretical advancement and practical implementation in inclusive tourism development.