Tribute to Georges Cazes

Via@ - international interdisciplinary review of tourismTribute to Georges CazesGeorges Cazes, geographer specialized in the analysis of tourism, died on October 11, 2011, at theage of 70. Via@ wanted to pay tribute to him, by publishing two texts: the first one is anunpublished work of the author, the second one is a testimony, by his wife, concerning the manand the researcher.Ten principles for a fair and integratedtourism developmentStudies on tourism development and its derivedeffects often highlight tensions and various traumasbrought in by the tourist intrusion in a contextinsufficiently prepared to welcome it.Are put in contact, sometimes brutally, without anyprecautionary measures, traditional economy andits values (ownership, solidarity) and the most «modern » forms of consumption, superfluous oreven extravagant. This phenomenon concerns allspaces, tropical seaside areas as well as peri-urbanareas, with differences rather in intensity than innature.When describing tourism development and inparallel with the creation and the success of thesemantics, we notice a frequent confusion, either interms of functionality (integrated, gentle,alternative etc.) or in terms of ideology (solidarity,sustainable, fair) or philosphical (ethical).At the risk of reminding some truisms or obviousfacts, it should yet be helpful to specialists innational and regional tourism development if wesuggest several fundamental recommendations inorder to prevent from making the most commonmistakes: if, taken individually into consideration,they’re not revolutionary, put together, theydescribe a tourism development that we willmodestly call “reasoned”.To achieve this goal, at least ten recommendations,listed below, should be taken into consideration inthe decision-making process.1. Give priority, when taking this decision, to localneeds and wills for satisfying tourist “demand”(who has the habit of easily taking over “others’territory” by putting forward pseudo-vocations totargeted spaces). We should proceed to a completereversal of the traditional norm of evaluating the“offer’s” incomes, by opposing simplistictautologies too frequently used as: “this attractivearea should develop if it had sufficient tourismpotential”.2. Implement as soon as needed, a permanentmonitoring tool of changes and modeling trendsbrought by the tourism intrusion, particularlyemphasizing on the site’s intrinsic capacities indifferent sectors (physical, socio-economical,cultural, political).3. Strictly follow the concept of “carrying capacity”,highly valuable provided that one should neitherhope nor look for an unrealistic precise limit, as insome American studies, and, above all, one shouldnot consider it as intangible, even though simpleinterventions can noticeably adapt it.4. Highly decentralize the decision-making process,both for the construction and the protection ofspaces (currently, according to French law and fromthe local community’s point of view, urbanizingthese territories is more profitable than preservingthem). Provide the necessary conditions for a truelocal control of the tourism development, avoiding,as much as possible, costly competition.5. As far as possible, retain on the territory incomesissued from the tourist flow by, on the one hand,supplying local products (building and decoratingmaterials, food and drinks, etc.) while minimizingimporting, and on the other hand, collectively usingprofits (infrastructures, facilities etc.) provided bythe tourist site status, so that its limitations andcharges will be easier to accept.6. Remember, at the different stages ofdevelopment, the main doctrinal principles of“sustainable development”, making it “durable” asdefined in the French language, in particular interms of energy savings, water recycling,environment preservation etc.7. Favor local labor force, including for managingpositions; in order to do that, there should beprovided proper training to tourism development,all the more so since there are already existingpioneer forms of local tourism.n°1– 2013 - Varia1

Via@ - international interdisciplinary review of tourism8. Preserve natural spaces not yet subject to realstatespeculations by taking protection measures:rules on land control, intervention of localauthorities, pre-emptive right etc.9. Do not aim first and foremost the growth invisitor numbers tourist, fairly easy to obtain, butlook for a true development including socialelements and not only economic results.10. Continue considerating tourism as a secondaryelement in a development genuinely integrated; donot forget that tourism is a seasonal activity.Taking into consideration these ten principles, theplanning authorities could expect not only a simple“tourism development” but a genuine “tourism ofdevelopment”…Georges CazesElizabeth and Georges Cazes, Paraty (Brazil), in 1995- © R. Knafou.I rememberI spent with Georges twenty six years, that left me alot of memories … By sharing some of them withthose who had the opportunity to meet him in theirteaching and research activities, or those who onlyread his works, I wish to develop an approach of theman he was … that they cannot have got to knowreally for he was so reserved when he was supposedto talk about himself…I remember Georges as a full-fledged geographerbut also not a typical one, charming and natural,expert and modest, specialized and open-minded,tolerant and sharp, social and self-contained,serious and humorous, and as the adoptive fatherof my children, as a man able to listen to thequestions and give the answers, to explain theCatharism movement and how to play cards, tohelp with a literature paper and enjoy a Frisbee diskgame …I remember how faithful he was to his origins –sometimes he used to say “I am a Pyrenean bear” –a faithfulness that intermingled with his love andrespect for his parents; I remember also his lack ofpretension which surprised everyone at the villagewhere we used to go often, and among his familybecause he had “succeeded”, and it did not show …I remember our stays in foreign countries as “travelidiots”, where Georges remained an observer of thetouristic phenomenon, in particular one day whenthe expert scientist specialized in tourism was nicelyswindled by a so-called guide in Marrakech, andhow much he laughed at himself for having beenmanipulated so easily in spite of all his expertise …I remember the congresses where hiscommunications striked everybody’s mind, but Iremember also that he had a lot of trouble tosubmit to their specific rules because of hisanticonformism… especially one night whenexchanging business cards with someone, heabsentmindedly held a subway ticket to hisinterlocutor, flabbergasted at such a lack ofconsideration …I remember when he refused over and over again“to institutionalize himself” by taking up anadministrative and political career, and hisdetermination to be “only” a free-lance researcherthat gives spontaneously a lot of his time andenergy, with absolute freedom, to his students, tothose preparing their thesis, to his peers andresearch in general …Finally I remember one afternoon in June, 2002, atthe Institut de Géographie in Paris, when Georgesdeclared to his colleagues who attended his earlyretirement party, that “the circle is now complete”,meaning that the entirely physical difficulty he hadthat day to walk up the rue Saint Jacques remindedhim of the emotional stress he had felt about 4decades before as he was going to pass his exams tobecome a teacher of geography…I don’t want to remember anymore the long yearsof sickness, the confinement of the traveller, thepalsy of the writer, the forced mutism of the teller,the intellectual consciousness untouched inside apetrified body …Elizabeth Jestaz-Cazes, June 2012n°1– 2013 - Varia2

Via@ - international interdisciplinary review of tourismTO CITE THIS ARTICLEElectronic reference:Tribute to Georges Cazes, Via@, Varia, n°1, 2013, posted on june 14th 2013.URL : http://www.viatourismreview.net/Article16_EN.phpTRANSLATIONPhilippe Bachimon & Mihaela Marc3n°1– 2013 - Varia