Ellis (2003a) and Ellis (2003b) appear to be the first studies to describe the distribution
and characteristics of research tourism on a globe scale. Both those studies identify research
tourism as Participatory Environmental research Tourism (PERT) and provided new information
about the various scientific research topics, destinations, product characteristics, organisational
structures, and marketing aspects of the PERT sector. Importantly for this study, Ellis (2003b)
identified many key management issues and future research opportunities for research tourism
that form the foundation of this thesis‘s research agenda