“Le patrimoine, c’est un truc pour les vieux…”

Abstract

Despite the opportunities offered by cultural heritage in the tourism sector, this article, based on a case study of a little town in the French Alps, shows that public policy of this type may also be subject to criticism and contestation. In Abondance, the municipality is making efforts to convert their ski resort into a cultural tourism site which is built around the heritage of the Gothic Court of Savoy. However: 1) As summarised by one of the local leaders ‘the people do not believe in it’ and fear that is not economically viable. 2) In contrast to the ski resort, heritage tourism is only attached to the imagination of old age, immobility and even death. 3) For residents of the town, setting up a localised visit site has disadvantages because of the turnover of touristic traffic to which this type of tourism is exposed.

Keywords

• reconversion station de ski
• Abondance
• Savoie
• tourisme culturel