Introduction:

the study of eco-innovation has been dealt with from different perspectives that respond largely to the business field. Its conception is constantly changing in order to rethink its scope in the face of growing environmental problems of general interest, such as those occurring in the field of tourism.

Objective:

literature review is essential to determine to what extent an object of study follows certain interpretative patterns, and in this sense, this research aims to provide the state of eco-innovation in its relation to tourism.

Materials and methods:

81 articles published within the databases Scopus, Dimensions and the Google Scholar search engine during the period 2010-2020 were reviewed.

Results:

a more detailed knowledge of the concept in tourism is shown, identifying three main lines of research: a) environmental innovation; b) competitive advantage and c) environmental management.

Conclusion:

this is an emerging issue for the tourism industry, and a tool that can contribute to business sustainability. There is limited research on innovation as it relates to environmental technologies in tourism.