Purpose This paper aims to conduct a review of the literature published, between 2006 and 2018, that used search engine data on tourism and hospitality research, namely, Google Insights for Search and Google Trends. More specifically, it intends to identify the purpose and context of the data use, ascertaining the main findings and reviewing the methodological approaches. Design/methodology/approach A systematic literature review of Scopus indexed research has been carried out. Given the novelty of search engine data use in tourism and hospitality research and the relatively low number of search results in Scopus, other databases were used to broaden the scope of analysis, namely, EBSCO and Google Scholar. The papers selected were subjected to content and statistical analyses. Findings Google Trends data use in tourism and hospitality research has increased significantly from 2012 to 2017, mainly for tourism forecasting/nowcasting; knowing the interest of users’ searches for tourist attractions or destinations; showing the relationship between the official tourism statistics and the search volume index of Google Trends; and estimating the effect of one event on tourism demand. The categories and search terms used vary with the purpose of the study; however, they mostly focus on the travel category and use the country as the search term. Originality/value Google Trends has been increasingly used in research publications in tourism and hospitality, but the range of its applications and methods used has not yet been reviewed. Therefore, a systematic review of the existing literature increases awareness of its potential uses in tourism and hospitality research and facilitates a better understanding of its strengths and weaknesses as a research tool.