Content analysis in tourism research

Considering the exponential increase of studies in the tourism field that use content analysis ( CA) as a research method, this paper aims to determine how CA in tourism field is applied and to detect the critical issues regarding its application. In order to achieve these aims, a systematic content analysis of 164 articles from ten journals included in the Journal Citation Report was performed. Findings reveal trends and applications of the method, which can be improved, most notably the operational procedures, in order to make tourism studies using CA more transparent, effective and replicable. Recommendations are provided with a view to improving future research. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.