seasons. Historically, the village of Finhaut was connected to Chamonix by road and from 1908 by a railway track. The village of Finhaut then became, like Zermatt, on account of its situation, its climate and the comfort of its hotels, one of the most important destinations in the canton of Valais for a summer stay in the mountains.
Between the two world wars tourism came to a halt, it did not adapt to winter tourism and most of its establishments closed in the 1950s-60s. The construction of the two hydroelectric dams brought money into the region. Since the 1990s, thanks to the activity of the dam, Finhaut has retained a stable population of 350 to 400 inhabitants.
Nestling on the side of the mountain, Finhaut is very quiet, if not deserted. It is difficult to imagine the era of English tourists in the 1920s and the 19 hotels then in business. Today there are only two, and they are not doing particularly well.
In 2011, the commune’s budget rose from 3.5 million to 35 million CHF because of the renewal of a hydroelectric dam concession. The Trient valley now has a considerable budget to push through development and initiate an “Alpine transformation”. However it lacks a general analysis of its requirements and its territory, particularly on a cross-border scale in the context of the Mont-Blanc region.
FURTHER INFORMATION
PODCAST
> conférence by Géraldine Sauthier IUKB, «History of the tourism in Finhaut»
Sauthier, The Story of tourist development of Finhaut from 1860 to 2010 from Berner Fachhochschule BFH on Vimeo.
WEB SITES
> Homepage of the Commune of Finhaut (f)
> Avenir Finhaut (f)
VISUAL ARCHIVES
> Iconographic Archive UNIL / Université de Lausanne
> Swiss Posters Collection
> Ancient iconography Our History (f)
> Media Archive of Ancient Iconography, Martigny (f)
WRITTEN & GRAPHIC DOCUMENTS
> Arpille: Ski Station Project, 1980 (unrealized)
> «History of the tourism in Finhaut, 1860 to 2010»
> Political Evolution of Finhaut between 1860 and 2010
> Finhaut Station, Schupbach
> Finhaut Station annex, Schupbach
> Benedetti_ The History of Finhaut, 2002
> Finhaut: Development History, 1996
> Finhaut: Zoning Plan
> Iconography of Finhaut
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