CROSS CHANNEL BACK-UP POLICY AND TOURIST FREQUENTATION EVOLUTION AT NORD-PAS-DE-CALAIS REGIONAL BORDERS

Since the construction of the Channel tunnel, a new way of planning on the regional territory has been initiated. The policy makers of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region have launched a specific regional tourism policy. Firstly, the paper deals with the theoretical problem of structuring impacts of transport infrastructure and the need of back-up strategies. Secondly, it describes the cross-Channel support policy in tourism and transport fields as ingredients of regional development. Thirdly, it will give some results of the tourism economic activity development from 1988 to 1996. Finally, it presents new research examining tourist demand side for attributing impacts to this policy.