Tourist Tracking Techniques and Their Role in Destination Management: A Bibliometric Study, 2007–2023

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Thank you for the opportunity to review this manuscript. The authors focus only on empirical studies regarding tourism tracking, identifying the tracking techniques and their role in the management of the tourist destination, but also analysing their connection with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Some suggestions to consider when reviewing this paper:

Abstract:

- Ensure correspondence between the purpose and objectives of the study presented in the "Abstract" and "Introduction" sections.

- Briefly describe the main methods or techniques applied.

Introduction

- Include after vulnerabilities, challenges a paragraph highlighting the problems identified following the analysis of tourist tracking techniques.

- Clarify more clearly the purpose of the bibliometric study - the detailed evaluation of the performance of the publications that address tourist tracking techniques, and stability the hierarchy of the fulfillment of the secondary objectives (O1) to recognize the prominent Scival subjects; (O2) analysis of the evolution of techniques; (O3) recognizing their use as a tool that contributes to the development of smart tourist destinations.

- Clearly specify the scientific and practical contributions brought by your study and outline the usefulness it could bring to decision-makers, such as: tourism managers, tourism associations, public institutions, government, etc. but also other third parties - students, researchers.

Literature review

- Based on previous research, definitions, characteristics regarding Tourist tracking techniques, their role/importance in the development of sustainable tourist destinations can be added.

- Include a table with three columns to reflect tourist tracking techniques, advantages, and disadvantages. Next to the adapted advantages and disadvantages, present the bibliographic sources.

- Add to the literature review which are the main gaps and limitations identified in the bibliometric study carried out.

Methodology

- Explained the motivation for choosing the bibliometric approach for the analysis of the management of the tourist destination and its sustainable objectives.

- Add the limits/disadvantages of the bibliometric approach in data analysis

Results

- What is the role of tracking techniques in the management of the tourist destination according to the bibliometric analysis?

- How do these tools (tracking techniques) contribute to the foundation of strategies and the fulfillment of specific development objectives of a sustainable tourist destination, according to the analysed studies?

Conclusion

- Highlight which aspects are the most intense but less addressed in the analysis of the development of the tourist destination based on tracking techniques. What are the implications for the tourist market (consumers, tour operators, travel agencies, etc.)

- What elements were not highlighted at all in previous studies but which could be the subject of future studies.

Author Response

Thank you very much for taking the time to review this manuscript. Please find the detailed responses in the attached file.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

This paper aims to delve into the research landscape of tourist tracking through a comprehensive bibliometric study. Differing from previous research, the paper not only conducts a performance analysis of publications but also concentrates specifically on empirical studies pertaining to tourist tracking. The primary objectives include the identification of prominent Scival topics and an analysis of their correlation with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The study's findings illuminate the quality of publications within the 2007-2023 timeframe. Key results reveal that the most prevalent techniques encompass GPS devices, social media, and app-based GPS/GNSS. Moreover, the study unveils the interconnected evolution of these techniques with the advancement of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). The Scival topic garnering the highest number of publications is notably associated with destination management. Several areas for improvement in the paper are as follows:

- In Section 2, each subsection provides a concise overview without adequately emphasizing the research motivation for topics such as tourist tracking techniques, GPS devices, and App-based GPS. Enhancing the depth of each subsection by integrating the research motivation is recommended.

- Concerning Figure 1, there is a need for improved logical flow, particularly in clarifying the exclusion of duplicate literature.

- Image quality requires enhancement throughout the paper, as the current images are relatively blurry, and font sizes within the figures should be increased.

- Consider establishing a dedicated section for future challenges, providing a categorized description.

- Articulate the research motivation and points of differentiation from existing literature, particularly in comparison to "Tourist tracking techniques and their role in destination management." This information should be prominently highlighted in the abstract and introduction.

Minor editing of English language required.

Author Response

Thank you very much for taking the time to review this manuscript. Please find the detailed responses in the attached file.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

Tourism plays an important role in the development of a certain state, as it creates new jobs, provides income to the state and local budgets, contributes to the inflow of investments into the country and increases the level of its culture. Currently, significant changes in its technological development are observed in the field of tourism, as well as in other areas of the economy,, which is due to the use of information and communication technologies (ICT). These technologies simplify various processes in the tourism industry, including  tracking the flows of tourists, which can be very useful in destination management. These issues are considered in the article.

The authors analyzed publications and their dynamics for 2007-2023 from empirical studies on tracking tourists, in particular, provided statistical data on publications in top publications, identified the 10 most influential authors researching this topic, the most cited articles, the countries where the largest number of studies appeared. The scientists also characterized cooperation networks between countries, identified the most frequently used combinations of keywords, the most covered topics in the mentioned area, analyzed the number and dynamics of articles with regard to the use of certain types of tourist tracking techniques and determined the most frequently used techniques. The authors also analyzed the degree of agreement of tourist tracking methods and their agreement with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The authors conducted a very thorough analysis of previous studies, while the practical significance of this article the scientific novelty of the study were not understood, there were no statistical research methods for processing the given statistical data. Therefore, the researchers should to pay attention to these aspects when revising the paper.

Author Response

Thank you very much for taking the time to review this manuscript. Please find the detailed responses in the attached file.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

No comment

Author Response

We would like to thank the reviewer for the attentive and thorough reading of this article. The thoughtful comments and constructive suggestions helped to improve the quality of this paper. Given the reviewer's positive feedback, we attached the latest version of the article.

Reviewer 3 Report

Tourism plays an important role in the development of a certain state, as it creates new jobs, provides income to the state and local budgets, contributes to the inflow of investments into the country and increases the level of its culture. Currently, significant changes in its technological development are observed in the field of tourism, as well as in other areas of the economy,, which is due to the use of information and communication technologies (ICT). These technologies simplify various processes in the tourism industry, including  tracking the flows of tourists, which can be very useful in destination management. These issues are considered in the article.

The authors analyzed publications and their dynamics for 2007-2023 from empirical studies on tracking tourists, in particular, provided statistical data on publications in top publications, identified the 10 most influential authors researching this topic, the most cited articles, the countries where the largest number of studies appeared. The scientists also characterized cooperation networks between countries, identified the most frequently used combinations of keywords, the most covered topics in the mentioned area, analyzed the number and dynamics of articles with regard to the use of certain types of tourist tracking techniques and determined the most frequently used techniques. The authors also analyzed the degree of agreement of tourist tracking methods and their agreement with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The authors conducted a very thorough analysis of previous studies, revised the paper, indicating the practical significance of this article, the scientific novelty of the study, there is some elements of the statistical data processing. All my notes have been taken not account, therefore, this paper can be published in the present form.

Author Response

We would like to thank the reviewer for the attentive and thorough reading of this article. The thoughtful comments and constructive suggestions helped to improve the quality of this paper. Given the reviewer's positive feedback, we attached the latest version of the article.