Created as an associative body in 1971 to “promote walking tourism between Lake Geneva and the Mediterranean”, GTA was the first to set out the idea of “gîte d’étape” and of the first great Alpine walking trail which still carries its name.

Today it is above all a shared tourist development instrument at the service of the territorial communities of the whole of the French Alpine massif (regions, departments, local communities). The interregional scope of its operations and programmes makes it a unique organisation as regards tourism policy.

The main mission entrusted to GTA today is to make walking tourism “a new chance for the mountains”.

Developing a programme of great trails and qualified accommodation, allowing customers to travel and discover the entire French Alpine massif in their own time, it actively participates in the development of the areas and the local economy and thus responds to the new challenges of mountain tourism: diversify with an offer valid for all four seasons, implement soft and durable tourism, support the mountain territories facing the first effects of global warming.

With the support of the French government it was the Grande Traversée des Alpes that in 1999 and 2000 carried out a feasibility study which led to the creation of the Via Alpina.

Since then its partners have reiterated their confidence by confirming its management of the International coordination of the project.