Sustainable Tourism Law

THE MOUNTAIN, A TERRITORY FOR A SUSTAINABLE TOURISM LAW IN FRANCE 377 A directive for the national planning relating to the protection and development of the mountain adopted by decree n°77-1281 of 22 nd November 1977 took an opposing view. Firstly, it recognised the underlying role of agriculture and forests in the specific ecosystem which constitute one of the main resources in mountains. Secondly, it admitted that tourism, the second source of economic benefits in mountains, was necessary to maintain life and population in this territory. This directive introduced new construction regulations dedicated to the mountain planning. In summary, according to this new regulation, agricultural lands and lakes (whether artificial or not) should be protected and new constructions will have to be aligned with pre-existing constructions. Specific provisions were also applied to natural sites which were situated above a very high altitude. Most importantly, a specific procedure was introduced to control the development of new touristic operations 7 . However, the most notable legal instrument relating to mountains was the “ Loi Montagne ”, Mountain Act n°85-30 of 9 January 1985 relating to the development and the protection of the mountain. This was the first act specifically focussing on the mountain development. Even though at that time sustainability had yet to be named and taken into consideration, this was the first law in France which adopted a specific approach to protect a fragile area and to develop tourism in a more respectful manner 8 . In the decade of 2000, further considerations were made by various actors of the mountains (elected representatives and tourism professionals) with regards to new issues raised in this area and in particular regarding the development of sustainable tourism. 9 It appeared therefore necessary to modernise the Mountain Act and to make more adaptable rules and procedures relating to the mountain protection. This was only recently done through the “ Loi Montagne II ”, Mountain Act II n°2016-1888 of 28 December 2016. This act significantly amended the first Mountain Act of 1985 to take into consideration the changes in attitudes over the last 30 years. It should be observed that this act does not exclusively focus on mountain tourism. Its provisions are broader 10 ; but in effect, they will also have an impact on sustainable tourism development. 7 This is known as: “unités touristiques nouvelles”. 8 In line with this, a similar approach was adopted to protect the French coastline: “Loi Littoral” Act n°86-2 of 3 January 1986. 9 For instance, Colloquium « Le tourisme durable en montagne, 365 jours par an », Grenoble 28 April 2008. 10 For instance, we can find in this act an authorization given to the government to transpose by ordinance the directive n°2015/2302 of 25 November 2015 on package and linked travel arrangement!