From tourism to geotourism: a few historical cases from the French Alpine foreland

Abstract

International audienceThis paper traces the touristic trajectories of three spectacular gorges located in the Alpine foreland and the southern Jura: the gorges of the upper Rhône (Ain/Haute-Savoie), the Sierroz (Savoie) and the Fier (Haute-Savoie). All three are located within a distance of 50 km from each other. The upper Rhône gorge, already famous at the end of the eighteenth century, was drowned under the floodwaters of the Génissiat dam in 1948; only a significant iconography remains of two centuries of (geo)tourism. The Sierroz gorge, close to the spa resort of Aix-les-Bains, became famous after the dramatic and tragic death in 1810 of a young noblewoman. Following that event many tourists staying on the shore of the lake Bourget visited the gorge until 1970 when it was closed to the public. Since then, the gorge has gradually become a touristic wasteland. The Fier gorge near Annecy became a tourist attraction in 1869 with the opening of the nearby railway station of Lovagny; since then, visitors have been attracted to it in increasing numbers. The history of these three gorges illustrates how tourism and heritage are in constant interaction; however, the development of the one will not always ensure the protection of the other. Today, geoheritage assessment is based upon criteria that are as objective as is possible. The intrinsic geological and geomorphological characteristics are the initial geoheritage values, to which can be added the cultural value elements. Associated with the development of geotourism and geoparks, this new approach should ensure a better and sustainable use of these sites in the long term

Geoheritage, Geotourism and the Cultural Landscape: Enhancing the Visitor Experience and Promoting Geoconservation

“…The aesthetics of the sublime [122] and picturesque [123], respectively, inspired feelings of awe and admiration (Burke's "delightful terror") in the presence of geological "wonders", or contemplation of the compositional qualities of "natural" landscapes [124]. The representation of the physical landscape in travel journals, literature and art [14,117,[125][126][127][128][129][130][131] inspired writers, artists, poets and members of the wealthy classes and social elites in Britain and elsewhere in Europe to seek out and experience beautiful, sublime and picturesque scenery as part of a shift from the "classical" to a more "romantic" Grand Tour in the mid-17th to early 19th centuries and before the development of mass tourism in the mid-19th century [13,132,133]. This is well illustrated in the case of mountain aesthetics.…”

Three centuries (1670–1970) of appreciating physical landscapes

“…Primary geosites have geological and/or geomorphological features, either natural or artificial and generally permanently exposed, within a delimited area and of some significance for their scientific, educational or interpretative value; they range from quarries and natural cliffs to mines and caves (Cope 2014) requiring husbandry rather than strict preservation, for much of their value lies in the access they provide to in situ rocks and their fossils and minerals. They can be refined on the nature of the localities at which geotouristic activities are focussed; for example coastal (van den Ancker & Jungerius, this volume, in press), mountainous/alpine (Cayla et al 2015;Gordon & Baker 2015;Migoń 2014;Whalley & Parkinson, this volume, in press), volcanic (Hose 2010a;Pullin 2014) and mining localities (Bristow 2015), and waterfalls (Hudson 2015). Tourists visiting waterfalls have a long history, and in the eighteenth century they were briefly termed 'cataractists', perhaps an interesting descriptor worth resurrecting.…”

“…Landscapes are an admixture of elements ordered and bounded by travellers' knowledge and experiences. Across Europe and elsewhere different regions with similar landscapes were visited and recorded by travellers (Bristow 2015;Hudson 2015;Mather 2014;Vasiljević et al 2014), tourists (Cayla et al 2015), artists (Ancker & Jungerius, this volume, in press; Pullin 2014), writers and poets (this paper), geographers (Henry & Hose 2015), geologists and geomorphologists (Bristow 2015;Larwood 2014;Whalley & Parkinson, this volume, in press), and naturalists (Burek & Hose 2015) who defined, delineated, described and depicted landscapes from their different mindsets. Within Britain three mountainous areas (the Peak District, the Lake District and the Scottish Highlands) and one coastal area (central southern England) were significant in the development of geotourism.…”