Scientific tourism as an opportunity for tourism development in national parks. The case of Santa Cruz in Patagonia (Argentina)

This exploratory study examines the potential of the national parks in the province of Santa Cruz, Argentina, for the development of scientific tourism activities. It takes into account the emerging interest in scientific tourism literature of this modality, and the sustainability characteristics and valuation of cultural, natural, and scientific resources. Additionally, Santa Cruz currently holds the highest number of protected areas at the national level. Through semi-structured interviews with relevant social actors from the provincial and national tourism and scientific sectors, as well as surveys of scientists, the aim is to understand the interest in the topic and evaluate its feasibility as a potential tourism product based on its potential benefits and limitations. Results reveal widespread support from the surveyed actors, who believe that the province and its parks offer an ideal environment for scientific tourism. The synergy between tourism and science, if properly planned and managed, is considered to have positive effects for both domains and is essential for the creation of tourist products of the studied typology.