Language Diversity and Literature Reviews in Tourism Research

Language bias is a common yet undiscussed practice that can significantly constrain the rigor and generalization of place-based studies and literature reviews. This article discusses how research published in English compared with other languages is considered or not when conducting literature reviews. This research focuses specifically on tourism research and explores specific journal article examples in the contemporary subject area of overtourism within destination-based studies. To do this, we take a critical linguistic, postpositivist approach to three case studies drawn from the literature on the phenomenon of overtourism. The study highlights how research in languages other than English is often discounted or omitted in academic fields that are dominated by English language publications. Nevertheless, our findings strongly support the proposition that place-specific research, to be rigorous and generalizable, should be supported by research carried out in relevant languages for its location. This research provides evidence that place-based research, based on literature from multiple languages and interdisciplinarity, can be reliable, valid, and trustworthy. The study also notes the recommendations for conducting literature reviews within place-specific research and avenues for future research.