Study two responded to the question, what are the shared and contested views of supply-
side stakeholder groups about the present and future of marine research tourism in Australia?
Specifically, study two identified a range of existing and potential MRT destinations, products
and activities across Australia. Through two online surveys and semi-structured interviews of
approximately 70 key stakeholders from 8 key stakeholder groups, it then derived a database of
232 key stakeholder groups about operation, management and development of MRT products
and activities in Australia. This database was subsequently applied to develop a new conceptual
model of key supply-side stakeholder views about Australian MRT.
Study two focused on supply side of MRT in Australia. However, this thesis also focuses
on the demand side of Australian MRT. To achieve this, study three of this thesis researches and
describes the preferences of 311 potential marine research tourism tourists for 12 different
marine research tourism products, locations and activities in Australia. This study is in response
to the calls by Ellis (2003b), Brown and Lehto (2005), and Coghlan (2007) for further study into
the preferences of potential research tourists for different research tourism products. The next
chapter of this thesis presents and discusses key findings from study three