Argentiere Page 3 of 3 Locality and Accessibility Argentière la Bessée is at the heart of an important tourist area. The Vallouise valley offers winter and summer tourism. A total of 16,000 beds in well developed hotels, rented accommodation, camp sites and holiday centres. But there is little commercial development. Surveys by the National Park estimate over 200,000 tourists a year travel up the valley to the entrance of the National Park at the Pré de Madam Carle. An estimated 35% of these vistors return to the area and many of them are receptive to the natural heritage, history, economy and social life of the area. Argentière la Bessée should be able to benefit from the promotion of its mining heritage. Argentière la Bessée is very accessible by train, with daily, direct links with Lyon, Paris, Marseilles and Grenoble. About 85,000 people a yer get on or off the train in Argentière. Good road links with the south of France and potential motorway standard access to northern Italy in the future may place this area on a major routeway through the High Alps. The key to the tourist development is for Argentière la Bessée to develop its own identity so it does not compete with ski resorts in better locations, but offers its own brand of tourism. Mining Heritage Tourism in Argentière la Bessée Argentière la Bessée has a privileged place in mining heritage due to a) the age of its exploitation and b) the metallic minerals, other sites in the area were mainly for coal The mine is still very important for local people. It has a strong cultural attatchment as the last mine only closed in 1987. Many local people have family who were miners. Visitors presently provide a strong demand for information at the existing Information Office in the town centre. They frequently ask about the minerals, roman tracks and other historic sites. There are many requests for guided visits organised by old miners. The Mining Museum in Briançon receives 15,000 visitors in July and August. Future developments will be concentrated in the summer tourist season. Once the site is perfectly operational, they envisage groups of tourists visiting the mine every 15 minutes. A well organised site would allow a maximum of about 30,000 visitors a year.   | 1 | 2 | 3 | Page 3 of 3