Coastal zone tourism

As experiences in the popular parts of the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, and the Pacific have shown, coastal and marine tourism have tremendous potential to transform the natural environment and society quickly and permanently. At a time of renewed concern for marine environmental policy issues such as habitat and endangered species protection, resource conservation, and water quality, travel and tourism have emerged as the world’s largest business. However, tourism has been only lightly treated in marine affairs literature. This article focuses on the opportunities and problems inherent in coastal zone tourism development. Major sections address ecological and social impacts of tourism, patterns of travel, and the instltutional framework for tourism management and planning. The article concludes with remarks on the 1990 ‘Congress on coastal and marine tourism’ held in Honolulu.