Ski resorts in crisis and territorial construction in French Catalonia

The efficiency of inter-municipal relations in regenerating or restructuring the economy of mountain tourist areas is well suited to an analysis in terms of governance. Focussing on the negotiation, consultation and cooperation processes between the public and private spheres, and associated network...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Vincent Vlès
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Institut de Géographie Alpine 2012-12-01
Series:Revue de Géographie Alpine
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/rga/1824
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1841546755531866112
author Vincent Vlès
author_facet Vincent Vlès
author_sort Vincent Vlès
collection DOAJ
description The efficiency of inter-municipal relations in regenerating or restructuring the economy of mountain tourist areas is well suited to an analysis in terms of governance. Focussing on the negotiation, consultation and cooperation processes between the public and private spheres, and associated networks of actors, provides an opportunity to assess the ties of solidarity in the management of crises. More specifically, this study examines inter-municipal relations in the context of the crisis now facing many small ski resorts in the Pyrenees, where declining snowfalls may lead to the dismantling of facilities or their adaptation to a hypothetical “4-season tourism”.The manner in which inter-municipal governance of the tourism resource is implemented in this context reveals fractures among the different actors relating to the management of jobs, housing, interests, resources, the issues at stake, and representations. Inter-territorial dynamics results in different types of cooperative arrangements and nested management systems that remain isolated, each covering competing projects. In the 11 Pyrenean ski resorts of French Catalonia, the different types of governance often remain narrowly delimited and compartmentalised, and inter-municipal cooperation takes place without any real democratic discussion with the resident population. Since debate is very rare, inter-municipal relations are at pains to bring about consensus between decision-makers on how to save the local ski areas threatened with permanent closure by a structurally deficient snowfall.
format Article
id doaj-art-caebcfb24167469b8218502f89b17a77
institution Kabale University
issn 0035-1121
1760-7426
language English
publishDate 2012-12-01
publisher Institut de Géographie Alpine
record_format Article
series Revue de Géographie Alpine
spelling doaj-art-caebcfb24167469b8218502f89b17a772025-01-10T15:54:35ZengInstitut de Géographie AlpineRevue de Géographie Alpine0035-11211760-74262012-12-01100210.4000/rga.1824Ski resorts in crisis and territorial construction in French CataloniaVincent VlèsThe efficiency of inter-municipal relations in regenerating or restructuring the economy of mountain tourist areas is well suited to an analysis in terms of governance. Focussing on the negotiation, consultation and cooperation processes between the public and private spheres, and associated networks of actors, provides an opportunity to assess the ties of solidarity in the management of crises. More specifically, this study examines inter-municipal relations in the context of the crisis now facing many small ski resorts in the Pyrenees, where declining snowfalls may lead to the dismantling of facilities or their adaptation to a hypothetical “4-season tourism”.The manner in which inter-municipal governance of the tourism resource is implemented in this context reveals fractures among the different actors relating to the management of jobs, housing, interests, resources, the issues at stake, and representations. Inter-territorial dynamics results in different types of cooperative arrangements and nested management systems that remain isolated, each covering competing projects. In the 11 Pyrenean ski resorts of French Catalonia, the different types of governance often remain narrowly delimited and compartmentalised, and inter-municipal cooperation takes place without any real democratic discussion with the resident population. Since debate is very rare, inter-municipal relations are at pains to bring about consensus between decision-makers on how to save the local ski areas threatened with permanent closure by a structurally deficient snowfall.https://journals.openedition.org/rga/1824tourismski resortsinter-municipal relationsterritorial constructionterritorial governance
spellingShingle Vincent Vlès
Ski resorts in crisis and territorial construction in French Catalonia
Revue de Géographie Alpine
tourism
ski resorts
inter-municipal relations
territorial construction
territorial governance
title Ski resorts in crisis and territorial construction in French Catalonia
title_full Ski resorts in crisis and territorial construction in French Catalonia
title_fullStr Ski resorts in crisis and territorial construction in French Catalonia
title_full_unstemmed Ski resorts in crisis and territorial construction in French Catalonia
title_short Ski resorts in crisis and territorial construction in French Catalonia
title_sort ski resorts in crisis and territorial construction in french catalonia
topic tourism
ski resorts
inter-municipal relations
territorial construction
territorial governance
url https://journals.openedition.org/rga/1824
work_keys_str_mv AT vincentvles skiresortsincrisisandterritorialconstructioninfrenchcatalonia