Abstract: Under the background of increasingly urgent ecological conservation and the continuous growth of tourism, visitor management in protected areas has become a critical issue for balancing conservation and development. We employed a combination of bibliometric analysis and content analysis to systematically summarize the research progress on visitor management in protected areas. We attempted to outline the research framework and key focus areas of visitor management in protected areas. The number of studies within this topic showed a fluctuating upward trend, with evident interdisciplinary characteristics. There are five hot topics in this area: visitor behavior management, impact management, experience management, carrying capacity management, and management frameworks and evaluations. The perspective of research gradually shifted from single dimensions, such as carrying capacity, ecological impact, and behavior patterns, to a multidimensional approach that comprehensively considers environmental, social, and institutional factors, with emphasis on the application of soft guidance strategies. Meanwhile, the use of geospatial big data, digital imaging, and other technologies enhanced the precision of studies on visitor spatiotemporal behavior patterns and monitoring management. Future research should further explore the heterogeneity of visitor groups across cultures and regions, as well as the application of long-term dynamic analysis methods, to provide valuable insights and theoretical support for improving visitor management in protected areas of China.

Key words: protected area, visitor management, national park, tourism, review