**1. Introduction**

Half of the French population is gambling or playing the lottery at least once a year. As a result, gambling and lottery generate 40 billion euro per year, and 100,000 jobs are created [1]. Despite the income generated by the sector and the job creations, Costes et al. [1] are arguing that the money spent by players can not be fully considered as rational, because it does not benefit the wellbeing of the player or the society/community. In this study, the opposite is argued. More specifically, this study is arguing that the lottery, Mission Patrimoine, launched in 2018 by the French government, could play the role of a mediator between the government, the locals and visitors. This is all the more important in the current international context of anti-tourism movements and tourismphobia [2–4]. Additionally, Gombault [5], is arguing that there is a gap in the application and research on the topic of creative tourism applied to France.

Additionally, this paper is arguing that Mission Patrimoine could play a role in the creative dimension of tourism in France. Creative tourism is defined as 'travel directed toward an engaged and authentic experience, with participative learning in the arts, heritage, or special character of a place, and it provides a connection with those who reside in this place and create this living culture' ([5], p. 2). Part of the objectives of this research is to establish a link between Mission Patrimoine and creative tourism. Equally important, for the success of Mission Patrimoine, a balance needs to be found between all parties involved in order to get some benefits out of it. When an activity is not beneficial to all parties involved it can lead to conflicts and social issues [6,7].

At this stage, it is important to mention the fact that in English, the word *patrimoine* means 'heritage'. This paper is therefore establishing a connection between heritage and lottery, what will be more obvious in the following section. France is the most visited destination in the world, as such, the tourism industry is very important for the local economy [8]. Heritage plays a significant role in the competitive advantages of the destination. For instance, 'The French gastronomy and 'art de vivre' are among the segment of heritage that contributes to the positive image of the destination abroad [9]. To maintain in good condition its (built) heritage (castles etc.), the French government launched the project Mission Patrimoine. Thus, using Mission Patrimoine as a case study, this paper has two objectives:


From a methodological point of view, this paper is based on a qualitative approach. Indeed, this method focuses 'on words rather than numbers in the collection of data' ([10], p. 286). Additionally, in this paper, an inductive approach has been adopted as the study is 'exploring, explaining uncovering phenomena and for generating new theoretical insights' ([11], p. 107). It is also worth adding that on top of being inductive, qualitative research can also be constructivist and interpretivist ([10], p. 286). Because of the topic of this research study (impact of the management of lottery on the interaction among different groups) and based on the fact that the subject considered for this study was recently created (as highlighted before, Mission Patrimoine was created in 2018), this research is already calling for further research, and more specifically for longitudinal studies. As stated by Silver et al. ([12], p. 75) 'The primary objective of longitudinal research is to monitor behaviour over time and thereby identify behavioural or attitudinal changes'. This view is further supported by Costes et al. [1], who carried out some research on lottery (and gambling) in France.

### **2. Contextual Framework**

Société Française des Jeux (FDJ, The French Games) is a semi-public company, 72% owned by the French government. Heir to the French National Lottery created in 1933, the FDJ was founded in 1976, the year when the National Lottery was created. It holds, under the control of the Minister in charge of the budget, the monopoly of lottery and sports of betting games on the French territory, including the overseas territories (Martinique, Guadeloupe, etc.) and Monaco. However, since 2010 online betting activities have been open to competition. In 2018, the French State announced a plan to sell part of the FDJ's capital, to keep only 25 to 30%. In 2015, betting activities made 15 billion euros (5% yearly growth) for a customer base of 26 million and 31,000 points of sale. The company, which employs about 16,000 people, generated gross gaming revenue of 5 billion euros for a net profit of 180 million in 2017, and a contribution to public finances of 3.4 billion euros, or 1% of the French government's budget.

The first draw of the Heritage Lotto took place on 15 and 16 September 2018 during the European Heritage Days, which granted free access to 12 million visitors to sites such as the Presidential Palace, the Senate, etc. Therefore, the issue of cultural heritage is now a popular cause due to the fact it was

for long neglected. The idea of a heritage lotto was initiated in 2001 by the Foundation du Patrimoine (heritage foundation), in response to the recurrent observation that it is difficult for the French Ministry of Culture and local governments to maintain a budget sufficient for them to fulfil their heritage conservation mission [13]. The project is inspired by the British Heritage Lottery Fund, which has raised nearly £8 billion since its inception in 1994, used namely for the restoration of nearly 20,000 historic buildings and monuments.

The FDJ was identified to create and distribute bespoke lottery games aimed at new audience groups, in order to generate new revenues to be earmarked for the restoration of historic and cultural monuments [14]. The Heritage Lotto is designed to raise funds for the Heritage Foundation to ensure the maintenance of monuments. The criteria for allocating the collected funds are the result of a consultation between the Ministry of Culture and the Heritage Foundation: 270 monuments have been designated as beneficiaries, including 18 sites considered emblematic (1 site for each of the 18 regions and metropolitan and overseas France territories) appearing on the lotto tickets sold [15]. The choice of beneficiary sites aims at highlighting local heritage in each territory, the vernacular heritage, the threatened heritage (e.g., house of the writer Aimé Césaire on the island of Martinique, in the French Caribbean).

The matter is of the utmost importance in terms of the attractiveness of French destinations, and in general terms of the overall performance of France, as a destination for tourists. Specifically, the French government's objective of welcoming 100 million foreign tourists in 2020 is in fact confronted with the rising constraints induced by a massive number of visitors to certain monuments, natural sites, etc. The General Manager of Atout France, the government agency in charge of promoting France overseas, points out that 80% of tourists visit Parisian cultural sites along the Seine, now close to saturation for an increasing number of dates during the year. The question also concerns Versailles or Mont-Saint-Michel.

## **3. Conceptual Framework**

## *3.1. Organisational Ambidexterity and Tourism Management*

Regardless the industry or sector, organisational ambidexterity (OA) is about combining exploratory and exploitative innovation [16]. On one hand, exploratory innovation requires a departure from existing knowledge and implies experimentation [17]; on the other hand, exploitative innovations are incremental and represent refinements of existing knowledge [18]. The topic of OA is closely related to the topics of innovation; performance and sustainability [16]. Indeed, 'Innovation can help firms to improve (1) how they serve an existing consumer base and (2) further exploit their current competencies, in order to gain prolonged benefits ( ... ) from the potential of organisational ambidexterity, as a key driver of sustained performance in the tourism industry' ([16], p. 1–2). Because of the benefits of this management tool, many sectors and/or industries have opted for this mentioned tool. Among these are: higher education; media studies; information technology; human resources management; professional services; leadership; management control system; entrepreneurship; customer service; finance; agriculture; pharmacy; etc. [19]. That said, in tourism and hospitality, the use of OA is extremely limited. In Events and leisure, OA is not used at all. Thorough a systematic literature review of the 52 journals in tourism, hospitality, leisure and events listed in the Association of Business School (ABS) list (now 'Academic Journal Guide', since 2018), reveals that 12 articles have been published between 2014 and 2018 with the words: 'Ambidexterity' or 'Ambidextrous' either in their title and/or keywords. A summary of existing research on OA in the area of hospitality and tourism is summarised in the table below (Table 1). There is a dearth of research in this area which this work is going to contribute to address. The same could be said about cultural tourism and innovation [20].


**Table 1.** Systematic literature review on organisational ambidexterity (OA) in hospitality and tourism.

### *3.2. Heritage*/*Cultural Tourism Management*

Seraphin et al. ([21]: 92) explain that "heritage" "covers a wide range of areas (including culture; history; politics; religions and communications) that can be classified into three main groups: built heritage (forts, relics, etc.); scientific heritage (plants, birds, natural habitats, etc.); and cultural heritage (fine art, customs, languages, etc.)." They also added that: "heritage tourism, which typically falls under the purview of cultural tourism (and vice versa), is one of the most notable and widespread types of tourism and is among the oldest forms of travel." As highlighted by Di Fazio and Modica [22], what ethnologists, anthropologists, geographers, and other researchers in Europe had started documenting, collecting and valorising from the end of the 19th century, today can be seen as a common heritage of largely recognised and consolidated value. Today, heritage should be considered as an economic resource to be used in view of long-term sustainability [22]. Additionally, as a field of research, heritage and tourism is well developed and play a major role in the marketing strategies of many destinations, as central in the attractiveness of destination and satisfaction level of visitors [21]. The topics associated with "heritage" are as follows: sustainability; stakeholders; identity; culture; ecology; sustainability; corporate social responsibility; food; authenticity; identity; politics; tourist consumption; world heritage; local community; environment; and interpretation; lifestyle; attraction; experience; tourist motivation; nostalgia; interpretation; and thanatourism or dark tourism [23]. That said, research associating heritage with marketing is rather limited [2]. The same could be noted about research associating heritage/cultural tourism and OA. Martinez-Perez, Garcia-Villaverde and Elche [20], provided the only paper in the area.

## *3.3. Cultural Tourism Clusters*

Cultural tourism clusters (CTCs) "entail engaging networks of collaborative and competitive relationships with other local companies, such as, for example, travel agencies, tour operators and institutions" (Sainaghi & Baggio, 2014 cited in [20], p. 1485). Moreover, Martinez-Perez, Garcia-Villaverde and Elche [20], explain that the connection among firms and tourists within CTC is particularly strong in historical and World Heritage Cities destinations due to the ability of these destinations to contribute to the development of social capital (SC). This ability is explained from the fact there is a strong connection between cultural heritage, identity and sense of belonging [20]. Putman (2000, cited in [20]) argues that SC puts together two opposites, namely bonding SC (Reciprocity and solidarity between individuals sharing similar characteristics) and bridging SC (connection from networks of different individuals) (Figure 1). As for Martinez-Perez, Garcia-Villaverde and Elche [20], they argue that bonding and bridging SC are complementary (not opposite) and source of innovation. Based on the preceded information, CTC could be related to OA as "CTC are able to drive the

combination of bonding and bridging capital to develop a strategy from exploration and exploitation of knowledge simultaneously, this would achieve better results in innovation" ([20]: 1491).

**Figure 1.** Cultural Tourism Cluster and Organisational Ambidexterity.
