Mountain wildlife-watching tourism practices

This research focuses on the emergence and structuring of tourist offers linked to wildlife watching in mountain areas (Alps), and on the construction of (emblematic) mountain wildlife as a tourist resource.

On the other hand, the thesis proposes an analysis of wildlife tourism as a lived experience through the prism of human/animal encounter spaces. Through encounter spaces (both physical and perceptual), this work aims to examine the ways in which tourists and animals are brought together, and their role in the construction of the tourist experience.

Finally, the sociological and geographical approach of this work enables us to explore the affinities that practitioners have with the mountain environment and wildlife, considering these tourist experiences as the product of a co-construction of actors and actants. The aim of this work is to highlight the way in which these lived experiences are part of a socialization process, and how they in turn help to socialize the participating individuals.