| Tourist sites in natural areas constitute a remarkable subjet of study for better understanding the way in which the local area or territory participates in the production of a localised cultural system (LCS). Indeed, while the economic function of such sites consists in producing weath for the entrepreneurs proposing multiple services to the tourists present ont he sites, it seems simplistic to consider a touriste destination as being no more than a simple aggregation of actors. The existence of ties with the territory that can be qualified locally points to the presence of a cultural process that plays an important role in the creation of resources that are essential to the efficient operation of such a system. Drawing on several examples of sports and tourist sites in the French Alps, we show how this localised cultural system in built up and how it takes shape. The study of the forms of development st up by the different service providers and of the sports culture of the tourists provides valuable insights into the make-up and practical organisation of these cultural resources in an outdoor recreational site. |
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