‘What is being done to manage tourism in the Chamonix Valley?’

Location and information-

Chamonix is in the northwestern part of the Alps.
It is 15km from the Swiss border and 15km from the Italian border.
Mont Blanc is also within this area, Mont Blanc is a mountain with a height of 4,808m tall.

Chamonix has attracted tourists for 250 years., winter attractions include-
Skiing
Snowboarding
Ice climbing
Museums, shops and historical buildings.

Summer attractions include-
40km of mountain bike trials live music, cafes and colourful flowers rafting pony trekking rock climbing

The new hotels, roads, holiday homes, chairlifts and golf course have changed the character of Chamonix from a sleepy mountain village into a busy tourist resort. Some people think that if the scenery is spoiled too much then tourists will not visit anymore, which could mean that the resort will lose money and lead to people losing their jobs.

Deforestation means trees are being cut down. They are being cut down so that new developments can be built for tourists. However, this can have dangerous effects. Trees are very important in mountain resorts as they hold soil together on hill sides. This means that snow and ice can not slip down the mountainside. However, when the trees are taken away there is no barrier and snow can very easily slip down the mountain, causing an avalanche.

Traffic in the Chamonix valley has increased because new roads have been built. The Mount Blanc tunnel, which was opened in 1965, is a very busy road and around 45,000 lorries a year pass through it. The tunnel makes it easier for traffic to pass through the Alps but it means that there is increased noise and air pollution in the valley which could add to global warming and potentially melt the snow on the mountains.

The European Union
The EU now says that before any new development takes place, an