In search of ‘a research front’ in cruise tourism studies

Abstract This article aims to provide a critical view of the global scientific production involved in cruise tourism study. Global references in this field were identified and emphasised for managing existing data to establish ‘bridges’ among researchers. Scientometric analysis was conducted on publications about cruise tourism in mainstream journals integrated into Web of Science. This methodology enabled us to identify current topics, relevant journals, authors, institutions, profitable countries, ‘visible’ and ‘invisible’ collaborative colleges and the research areas considered as the epicentre of the cruise tourism debate. A significant contribution of this work is the use of indicators at the three levels of scientometric complexity, i.e. scientific activity, impact and relational character.