Entre patrimonialisation et ouverture au tourisme : un équilibre en question(s) dans le lagon du Grand Cul-de-Sac Marin en Guadeloupe

The balance between heritage conservation and tourism development is a key issue in the Grand Cul-de-Sac Marin in Guadeloupe. The lagoon was recently invented as a touristic and heritage site and cumulates three functions: i) it’s an area exploited for its marine resources, ii) it’s a leisure destination for the local community, and iii) it’s a tourist destination where a tourism services sector has been developed throughout the archipelago. This context leads to specific difficulties and issues. The great spatial concentration of tourism practices in areas of greater sensitivity and ecological value requires finding innovative management solutions. The governance of the bay is also the subject of a major overhaul in which the National Park is invited to shed its role of "gendarme" to propose increased consultation with users. Even if all the local stakeholders (inhabitants, tourists, tourist services providers, local communities) do not have the same vision of the place to leave to touristic development, the three visions they have today about the protected area demonstrate that they share the same heritage values and the same attachment to the islets and the natural environment. The debate is therefore about the degree of protection and the management tools which can limit the environmental impacts of tourism