Abstract

Since 2007 the Center for Research in Patagonian Ecosystems (Centro de Investigación en Ecosistemas de la Patagonia, CIEP) has implemented Scienti0ic Tourism (ST) to foster research programs, technology transfer, and scienti*ic mediation in order to strengthen sustainable tourism development in remote mountainous areas of Patagonia. Public and private institutions of Chile, South America, USA and Europe participated in this process and supported new research on cultural heritage and natural processes of southern Chile. Scienti'ic Tourism is a niche within alternative forms of tourism that shares speci+icities of learning, adventure, cultural, and experiential tourism. It is described as a tourism that generates and shares acquired knowledge, but has wider implications and bene3its. This paper analyzes how scienti+ic tourism fosters research, local development through pilot projects, and a network of local operators and research institution in the Chilean Patagonia. Linking science and tourism seems to meet the challenge of improving socio-economic growth of the local communities and potentially improve the conservation of highly fragile ecosystems.