Introduction: Visitor Studies in 1990

The intent of this paper is to offer an introduction to this volume and to (hopefully) place the 1990 Visitor Studies Conference held in Washington, D.C., in the perspective of the general field of visitor studies. About 300 professionals from all over the world participated in the 1990 Conference, an increase from 175 attendees the year before. The collection of papers in this volume, although not inclusive of all papers presented at the Conference, should give the reader a feeling for the issues and discussions that took place.