Crans-Montana is a tourist resort in the French-speaking part of the canton of Valais, Switzerland. Situated on a plateau in the Alps, the resort faces a 180-degree panorama and reaches an altitude of 1,500 metres. Its population fluctuates according to the season, from 5,000 inhabitants year-round to 50,000 during the peak tourist season. The entire territory of the resort with the villages below has 15,000 inhabitants. The tourist destination has developed since the end of the 19th century: from a vast plateau where cattle and herdsmen roam, it has become an internationally known mountain town in the 20th century, thanks in particular to the golf and ski competitions it hosts every year. Numerous leisure and cultural activities have developed here, attracting holidaymakers and visitors in winter and summer alike. The first tourists came to Crans-Montana to take advantage of its "Mediterranean" climate, as the annual sunshine duration in Crans-Montana is about 30% higher than in northern Europe.