Tourism and recreation hardly represent new study topics. In fact, they are the subject of a large number of books, scientific and technical journals, as well as conferences. Most of the social science disciplines have dealt with tourism and recreation at some time or another via research or academic teaching. Analysis tools are also becoming increasingly sophisticated while sources of information are constantly expanded. In this context, the emergence of digital technology and of the Internet opens up new perspectives, the scope of which is yet to be fully grasped (new survey and data collection protocols, refinement of models, geo-location of trips, interactions between researchers and users, and so on). This proliferation of initiatives is an undeniable source of learning, and undoubtedly improves our understanding of the phenomena at play. However, we have to ask ourselves whether these innovations risk artificially isolating the subject of our study by cutting it off – more or less durably – from other social phenomena. Statistical observatories, for example, still sometimes make the distinction between ‘tourists’ (who spend at least one night away from their homes) and ‘day trippers’ (who pursue their activities on the same day), whereas a same person may choose freely between these two types of travel . Similarly, concerning analyses in terms of ‘industry’ (the purpose of which is to retrace the entire ‘chain’ of stakeholders involved in the creation and supply of a product), there may well be a risk of overlooking the connections between the territories and the ‘non-tourism’ stakeholders who work on their behalf, such as local authorities, natural area managers, farmers and foresters. That is why we have decided to blend perspectives on the broad topic of tourism and recreation. The book is divided into four sections: 1) location factors of tourism and recreation; 2) users and stakeholders; 3) local and regional impacts of recreational activities; and 4) foreign perspectives on French tourism and recreation issues.