Chamrousse sustainable tourism guide
Presentation
Chamrousse sustainable tourism guide
Discover a small guide to sustainable and caring tourism for nature lovers, especially for the mountain resort of Chamrousse.To know: sustainable tourism is defined by the World Tourism Organisation (WTO) as "tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, by meeting the needs of visitors, professionals, the environment and host communities". It aims to achieve a balance between the pillars of sustainable development in the production and implementation of tourism activities.
The three pillars or fundamental principles of sustainable development are environmental, socio-cultural and economic: economic (economic profitability), social and cultural (taking into account and contributing to the local population) and environmental (respect for and moderate use of natural tourist resources).
Remember: sustainable development is therefore not limited to just one of its pillars, the environment, a dimension to which it tends to be commonly reduced.
History
Once upon a time, Chamrousse was a mountain destination and family resort in the Northern Alps, in the Belledonne massif, near Grenoble, capital of the Alps, which was awarded the "European Green Capital" label in 2022.At the outset, the mountains, a fragile environment contributing to the success of the "world's leading tourist destination", were directly concerned by the advent of the concept of sustainable tourism.
After the Second World War, the French government set itself the objective of developing the mountains, notably with the Snow Plan. However, a tension arose between the objective of development and the desire to protect the mountain environment, and this is how certain national and regional parks came into being (and perhaps one day a Belledonne park with Chamrousse and its environmental centre as its gateway?)
Since the early 2000s, the concept of sustainable development has become part of everyday language. In France, since 2007, the State has adopted the principle according to which its own actions and those of each of its administrations taken individually must satisfy the principles of sustainable development, in connection with the "Grenelle de l'Environnement". It was also at this time that studies on the ecological impact of the resorts began, particular attention was paid to agriculture and pastoralism, and this development context converged with that of the diversification of the tourist offer.
In Chamrousse, the resort is one of the forerunners in the field of sustainable development with the award of the "Flocon Vert" label, becoming the first mountain resort in Isère to be awarded the Mountain Riders label in 2017, then with the renovation of the former chalet of the French Alpine Club (CAF) into the Chamrousse centre of the Heritage and the Environment. And finally, in 2021, by becoming the first resort in the world to obtain the United Nations label by joining the Global Compact France Network.
Vision
Chamrousse, the mountain resort where you can learn to live in harmony with your natural, social, cultural and economic environment.Sustainable tourism can be adopted by any tourism operator by integrating the principles of sustainable development into its strategic management and/or the offer it makes.
Sustainable tourism is also a matter of individual travellers' choices: in their behaviour, daily actions and choice of service providers and/or destinations according to sustainability criteria...
The objective here is to preserve mountain territories and more broadly our planet while promoting actions taken in the field of sustainable development (by combining economic, socio-cultural and environmental aspects), by engaging locals and holidaymakers with eco-gestures to reduce energy consumption, save water, encourage soft mobility and reduce waste.
Discover everything there is to know about sustainable development in a mountain and ski resort like Chamrousse: a sustainable destination in the making, Chamrousse's sustainable tourism offers, good practices, the Flocon Vert label, the actors involved in the Flocon Vert charter in Chamrousse...