Lapland Scientific Tourism project continues the work of the earlier Scientific Tourism project (2020–2022), which developed the WONDER SEEKERS concept.
Running from August 2025 to July 2026, the current project explores the opportunities and challenges related to developing science tourism among tourism companies in Finnish Lapland. This blog post examines why science tourism is becoming increasingly relevant and what kinds of development challenges emerged from the project workshops held in April 2026.
Why is science tourism needed?
Tourism depends heavily on nature, landscapes, and local environments, but at the same time it also contributes to environmental degradation, biodiversity loss, and climate change. According to the review by Räikkönen et al. (2019), traditional tourism models often fail to create lasting environmental awareness or behavioural change among visitors. At the same time, universities and researchers possess growing amounts of knowledge related to sustainability, biodiversity, climate change, and Arctic environments, yet this knowledge rarely becomes a visible part of tourism experiences.
Science tourism offers one way to bridge this gap. By combining tourism with scientific knowledge, research, and sometimes direct interaction with experts, science tourism can help visitors better understand environmental change and their relationship with nature. In some cases, visitors may even participate in research activities, citizen science, or environmental monitoring themselves.
Science tourism can also strengthen the connection between science and society at a time when reliable information, public engagement, and sustainability action are increasingly important. Rather than focusing only on entertainment or consumption, science tourism creates opportunities for learning, discussion, curiosity, and more meaningful travel experiences.
Current state of science tourism and sharing scientific knowledge in Lapland
At the moment, the biggest challenges in science tourism are not necessarily related to the tourism products themselves. Tourism businesses in Lapland already create attractive and high-quality visitor experiences. The larger issue is how scientific knowledge can be integrated into these experiences in practical, engaging, and accessible ways.
Reliable scientific information is often fragmented, difficult to translate into customer-oriented formats, or disconnected from tourism development processes. In many cases, science communication happens only during the experience itself through guides, limiting its wider visibility and long-term impact. Customers, meanwhile, increasingly search for information through multiple channels such as social media, online platforms, recommendations, and AI tools, creating new expectations for accessible and trustworthy content also before and after the experience.
The workshops also highlighted broader structural challenges. Collaboration between researchers, tourism businesses, and public actors remains relatively fragmented, and responsibilities are often unclear. Businesses may also hesitate to invest in science tourism because market demand is still emerging and the financial risks can feel uncertain.
Developing science tourism therefore requires stronger cooperation between research and tourism actors, clearer communication channels, practical pilot projects, and concrete examples that demonstrate both business value and credible science-based content.
Science tourism spectrum
Cooper, Hutton, and Varnajot (2026) have developed the concept of a science tourism spectrum. The idea behind the spectrum is that science tourism experiences can vary significantly in terms of scientific depth, participation, learning, exclusivity, and target audience.
At one end of the spectrum are lighter experiences where scientific knowledge supports the tourism experience in an accessible way, such as learning about Arctic nature, northern lights, or local ecosystems during a guided or self-guided activity. At the other end are more immersive and specialized experiences that may involve direct interaction with researchers, participation in citizen science, or deeper learning connected to scientific research.
The spectrum was presented during the workshops as a practical tool for product development. It helped participants think about different customer groups, the level of scientific engagement within a product, and how science can be integrated into tourism experiences in meaningful and accessible ways.
Science tourism in Lapland is still developing, but the workshops demonstrated clear interest in combining research, local knowledge, and tourism in new ways. The next challenge is turning these ideas into practical experiences that are engaging for visitors while also supporting environmental awareness, local communities, and sustainable tourism development.
References
Cooper, E., Hutton, E., & Varnajot, A. (2026). A science tourism spectrum: Towards conceptual clarity around knowledge-based products in tourism. Current issues in tourism, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2026.2636765
Räikkönen, J., Rouhiainen, H., Grénman, M., & Sääksjärvi, I. E. (2019). Advancing environmental sustainability through nature-based science tourism: The potential of universities. Matkailututkimus (Verkkoaineisto), 15(1), 67-87. https://doi.org/10.33351/mt.79852