Research Tourism

During the 19th century, the combination of colonialism, economic development, and wealth creation allowed for the expansion of scientific fieldwork into new geographical areas beyond the core of Europe. The scientific disciplines involved include, but are not limited to, agriculture, anthropology, archaeology, botany, biology, ecology, geology, geography, and physics. Although today many scientists travel for business purposes, there is also a large nonprofessional component of research [Page 1024]tourism that supports the scientific researcher, either by paying a fee to be involved in scientific research or through voluntary support that may assist in the collection of primary data, the maintenance of ecological and indigenous sites, or the economic development of poor communities.

Research tourism is a growing phenomenon in tourism studies that includes some form of research ...