Coastal Tourism Development

Coasts provide some unique features for being an attractive place for the tourists. Different types of coasts according their own character offer variety of flavours to the tourists as the compound features produced from the triad of sun, sea, and sand are unique in nature. There are several problems in coastal tourism and associated activities along with the immense scope for developing a sustainable tourism with high return of investment. The economic growth and environmental destruction are the result of the conflicts between social and natural systems with the interplay of human activities. There is a need for proper approach with a holistic view to maintain the sustainability of coastal tourism, with the sustained economic growth from coastal tourism, as a potential sector. The impact of coastal tourism is manifold and delicate for the coastal community and their livelihood. The negative impacts on the coastal environments are resulted from the tremendous pressure on limited local resources, increased or unwanted invasion of natural areas and serious conflict between tourism and other sectors (Garrod & Wilson, 2003; Dobson, 2003; UN Atlas of the Oceans, 2004). The impact on water, food and energy resources are extreme as they are primarily for personal consumption and are heavily abused by tourists in hotel and food plaza along with excessive lighting and air cooling systems, swimming pools, golf courses, etc.