Tourism, knowledge management and its processes: an integrative literature review

When it comes to knowledge management (KM), one of the ways to classify it is through its processes. When it comes to tourism, it is the sectors that reveal its practical development. At this juncture, this article aims to analyze which are the tourism sectors that are considering KM in their research, as well as which KM processes are most used in tourism studies. To this end, this research is supported by an integrative literature review and follows the guidelines of the PRISMA recommendation. Due to the research protocol established and using the Scopus and Web of Science databases, an initial sample of 376 articles was obtained, of which 107 met the eligibility criteria. The research results are: (1) the most representative sectors are macro tourism and the accommodation services segment; (2) there is an emphasis on knowledge sharing and transfer processes, which are KM concerns also in other areas; (3) the researches highlight tacit knowledge, given its management complexity and the competitive differential it supports; (4) the researches on KM in tourism received criticism for low quality, complexity of scientific language, or disconnection with the managers and operators in the private and public sectors.