Hülya Yavuz AKÇAY
Abstract
Global demographic changes and increasing life expectancy are gradually increasing the importance of the silver tourism market in the tourism sector. The purpose of this study is to reveal the conceptual evolution and current research trends of the silver tourism literature through bibliometric analysis. A total of 216 academic publications retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection database were analysed using VOSviewer software. A thesaurus was employed during the analysis process to improve data reliability and terminological consistency. The study employs co-occurrence and co-citation analyses to map the intellectual and thematic structure of the field. The findings indicate that silver tourism research gained significant momentum especially since 2016, concentrated in the 2021-2025 period, and countries such as China, the USA, Spain, Australia and Portugal are among the leading contributors to the literature. The keyword network shows that the literature is shaped around themes such as senior tourism, well-being, active ageing, motivation, travel constraints, and social tourism. This study provides a strategic roadmap for academia and tourism industry stakeholders regarding the future research directions of the silver tourism market.
Keywords: Silver Tourism, Senior Tourism, Third Age Tourism, Bibliometric Analysis, Web of Science, VOSviewer
JEL Codes: L83, Z32, D83
How to Cite: Yavuz Akçay, H. (2026). A Bibliometric Analysis of Studies on Silver Tourism Literature. Health Tourism Journal, 2(1), 37-59.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21076198
