1998 Year of the Ocean Coastal Tourism and Recreation 



POLICY FRAMEWORKS FOR COASTAL RECREATION AND 

 TOURISM: AN ASSESSMENT 



Understanding Tourism 



A perusal of the literature on tourism suggests that it is easy to make generalizations: on 

 the positive side, to extol its huge economic development potential; on the negative side, to decry 

 impacts on the environment, overuse of resources and energy, ignorance of local culture, and 

 absence of local benefits. For analytical purposes, it is best, however, to consider tourism in 

 neutral terms as an agent of development and change which may have both positive and negative 

 effects, as the following quote suggests: 



"As Butler (1990) points out, tourism, like other industries, is an agent of development 

 and change and must be recognized as such. It is consumptive like any other industry and 

 the level of consumption is determined by the scale and style of tourism development. At 

 low levels and with careful design, tourism may be able to operate at a sustainable level. 

 However, controlling the level and style of development over the long term presents 

 challenges which, to this point, have not been successfully met. Because of its potentially 

 high impact, tourism should be considered in the same manner as any other industry and 

 should be subjected to the same environmental and social impact assessment processes 

 during the plarming stages" (Woodley, 1993, p. 137). 



Butler suggests the following working definition of sustainable development in the 

 context of tourism: "tourism which is developed and maintained in an area (community, 

 environment) in such a manner and at such a scale that it remains viable over an indefinite period 

 and does not degrade or alter the environment (human and physical) in which it exists to such a 

 degree that it prohibits the successful development and well being of other activities and 

 processes" (Butler, 1993, p. 29). 



Tourism has often been ignored by public sector agencies. Where it has been considered 

 as a specific development feature, it has often been viewed as a "soft" option, which can be 

 pursued relafively easily and which does not require much in terms of specific planning or 

 resources (Butler, 1993). While this view has changed somewhat in recent years as the 

 magnitude and importance of tourism has begun to be appreciated, ignorance about tourism and 

 many of the processes associated with it is still widespread. 



The lack of attenfion by public agencies to tourism is especially problematic in the case 

 of marine and coastal tourism. In most countries, there usually is no coordination between 

 programs that promote and market tourism and those that manage coastal and marine areas. 

 Integrated coastal management often tends to be done within environmental or planning 

 agencies. On the other hand, agencies dealing with the promotion of tourism are not involved 

 with the evaluation of its effects or with advance planning and management of the adverse 

 impacts of tourism through avoidance, mifigation, and compensafion strategies (Cicin-Sain, 

 1993). Hence, one of the greatest challenges facing coastal managers in the United States and 



F-8 



