"Occitan Cultural Tourism": from Local Policy to Conciousness-Raising Tool?

Abstract

Occitan cultural tourism is an emerging concept organising a public policy driven by the General Council of Tarn (France) in its early phase. Departing from a review of theoretical concepts such as language tourism and a presentation of sociolinguistics in France, this paper examines the promotion of Occitan language and culture for tourism purposes. Contrary to common belief, recent studies have highlighted that there is a receptive social demand in this field. This paper tries to analyse the basis of this tourism initiative and to consider its impact in regional development terms. The reflections show that Occitan cultural tourism might also act as a tool to raise awareness for the promotion of the Occitan
language.

Keywords: cultural tourism, Occitan language and culture, local public policy, Tarn.