FORMS OF SCIENTIFIC TOURISM IN AYSÉN, CHILEAN PATAGONIA

Abstract

The present paper, conceived within the project “Sciences supporting tourism development of Aysén, creating a Centre for Scientific Tourism for Patagonia”, carried out since 2007 by the Research Center on Patagonian Ecosystems (CIEP), refers to the notion of scientific tourism and it’s formes in Chilean Patagonia. Based on an extensive literature revue, it offers to distinguish four specific forms of tourism practices and / or products, linking in a variety of ways and degrees, the scientific dimension. These forms are 1. Explorations and adventure tourism with scientific dimensions, 2. Cultural tourism with scientific contents similar to either ecotourism or industrial tourism, 3. Scientific eco-volunteering and 4. Scientific research tourism. For each forms we will show how the implementation of projects in Aysén imposed an extensive analysis and specification of Scientific Tourism there. We than discuss the conditions for appearance of the notion world wide, its relevancy within present tourism dynamics and its expression in Chilean Patagonia. The interrelation between science and tourism not being an obvious one for numerous authors, this contribution puts forward debates and sometimes opposed views.