La domestication du tourisme
Résumé
Domesticating tourism: Cross-country skiing in the Jura Mountains (1900-1996)
Prior to the late 1960s, the Jura Mountains had seemed doomed socially and economically. But this French mountain range has emerged as a place for new activities, in particular skiing. No longer seen as being merely utilitarian or strictly local, skiing has become an economic resource, a factor in development and an element in local identities. Two periods in the recent history of winter tourism in this area can be identified. The first hinged on Alpine skiing and necessitated major facilities. The second centers around cross-country skiing and fits into a vision that sees development as being “integrated”, and as conserving sites and spreading tourism out over the countryside.
Prior to the late 1960s, the Jura Mountains had seemed doomed socially and economically. But this French mountain range has emerged as a place for new activities, in particular skiing. No longer seen as being merely utilitarian or strictly local, skiing has become an economic resource, a factor in development and an element in local identities. Two periods in the recent history of winter tourism in this area can be identified. The first hinged on Alpine skiing and necessitated major facilities. The second centers around cross-country skiing and fits into a vision that sees development as being “integrated”, and as conserving sites and spreading tourism out over the countryside.
Depuis la fin des années 60, le massif du Jura, qui semblait voué à un déclin socio-économique, apparaît comme le support de nouveaux usages parmi lesquels une pratique emblématique du ski. Celle-ci n'est plus seulement pensée comme utilitaire ou comme strictement locale, mais construite comme une ressource économique, un facteur de développement et un élément identitaire. On peut isoler, de ce point de vue, deux périodes dans l'histoire récente du tourisme d'hiver jurassien. La première, qui voit sa naissance puis son développement, s'articule principalement autour du ski alpin et d'aménagements lourds. Durant la seconde, la pratique du ski de fond est développée. Elle s'insère dans une vision de l'aménagement touristique où l'argument aménageur se fait en termes de préservation des sites, de tourisme diffus, d'aménagement intégré.
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