A Global Perspective on Ecotourism Marketing Trends: A Review

• Published in: Sustainability Vol. 17; no. 13; p. 6035
• Main Authors: Dube, Kaitano, Ezeh, Precious Chikezie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.07.2025
• Subjects: Bibliometrics; Climate change; Community; Ecotourism; Empowerment; Environmental impact; False information; Forecasts and trends; Global warming; Keywords; Marketing; Methods; Research methodology; Scientometrics; Social responsibility; Social sustainability; Stakeholders; Tourism; Trends; South Africa
• ISSN: 2071-1050; 2071-1050
• DOI: 10.3390/su17136035

As various sectors of the world are grappling with various sustainability challenges, there is an urgent need to seek ways to find sustainable ways of dealing with some of these global challenges. Ecotourism has been seen as an avenue for addressing some of the sustainability challenges facing the tourism industry. Most tourism enterprises have adopted ecotourism principles. This study examines the evolution of ecotourism marketing to identify the key concepts and critical debates within this terrain. In this regard, this study also seeks to identify knowledge gaps and future research directions. Using bibliometric data from Web of Science-indexed publications between 2003 and 2025, this study found that ecotourism marketing has been a growing field of research, which is highly cited across fields. The study found that ecotourism marketing covers a wide range of aspects, including digital marketing, destination branding, sustainable marketing, and demand-side considerations in ecotourism marketing. Ecotourism marketing, in many respects, is equally concerned with how ecotourism establishments embrace the current challenges of climate change from a climate change mitigation, adaptation, and resilience perspective to ensure sustainability. There are several research gaps and directions with respect to ecotourism marketing, some of which could cover various aspects in the future, such as examining the role of new technologies, social influencers, and funding in ecotourism marketing. There is an equal need to understand how various generations view the whole concept of green tourism to inform segmentation and better market positioning.