Social and Associative Sports Tourism in France: The Glénans and the National Union of Outdoor Sports Centres (UCPA)

Abstract

After the Second World War, the dominant thinking in France was linked to a desire for solidarity. In this context, there was a real desire to develop an offer of education for all. Many associations with these aims were created to reach the working-class of society. The sports and tourism movement followed suit. Pioneering associations included the Glénans, the National Union of Mountain Centers, and the French Nautical Union. However, for lack of means, it was not until the early 1960s and Maurice Herzog’s sports policies that a real policy in favour of sports tourism and outdoor sports was at work. Soon, two social sports tourism associations, the Glénans and the Union des Centres Sportifs de Plein Air [National Union of Outdoor Centers (UCPA)], were at the centre of a new concept that was very close, in its foundations, to both the sports movement and that of popular education. The actions of the UCPA and Glénans demonstrate a new definition of social sports tourism through the originality of the achievements of this association at the interface of different educational trends.