SKIING AND TOURISM IN THE VALLÉE DE JOUX (1899-1939): AT THE CROSSROADS OF DIFFERENT INTERESTS

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to analyze the relations between skiing and tourism in the Vallée
de Joux, a region located northwest of Lausanne in the mountain range of Jura near the
French border. To do so, this paper looks back to the early days of skiing and the structural
evolution of tourism in the Vallée de Joux from the early 1900s to the Second World War. The
main objective is to analyze the dynamics that allowed skiing and winter tourism to develop
in this region. The paper addresses the question of whether it was tourism that stimulated
the development of the competitive skiing and its institutionalization or, conversely, whether
it was the development of skiing that stimulated both the related economic and structural
developments. This article seeks a new perspective on the links between sport and tourism
and particularly between skiing and winter tourism in a geographical territory, the Swiss Jura,
which has received little attention to date.