1998 Year of the Ocean Coastal Tourism and Recreation 



inform the public about beach water quahty conditions, and to make information about the risks 

 associated with swimming in contaminated beach water available to the public.'' 



Emerging Tools and Techniques 



Although coastal tourism constitutes a strong force (both positive and negative) in 

 shaping coastal communities and local, regional, and national economies, coastal tourism is 

 generally not seen as a specific sector requiring policy, planning, and management attention and 

 resources. This is due, in part, to the fact that data and information tend not be gathered and 

 aggregated under this heading. Hence, the magnitude and importance of leisure and 

 recreationally motivated development in the coastal zone tends to be understated, understudied, 

 and under-managed. 



However, certain aspects of this situation may be changing. Since the Earth Summit in 

 Rio de Janeiro in 1992, a number of new initiatives for sustainable tourism practices have 

 appeared. For example, in 1993, a new periodical entitled Journal of Sustainable Tourism 

 appeared, focusing on applying the principles of sustainable development to the tourism field. In 

 1997, on the occasion of the five-year review of the implementation of Earth Summit 

 agreements, three organizations: The World Travel and Tourism Council, the World Tourism 

 Organization, and the Earth Council; jointly published Agenda 21 for the Travel and Tourism 

 Industry: Towards Environmentally Sustainable Development (WTTC et al, no date). This report 

 presents a summary of Agenda 21 (one of the main outputs of the Earth Summit), and the role 

 that travel and tourism can play in achieving the goals of Agenda 21 . It also outlines a program 

 of action. Planning for sustainable tourism development is one of the priority areas of the 

 program, which calls for complementarity between tourism and coastal development by adopting 

 suitable policies such as the Global Blue Flag Program (WTTC et al.). The Blue Flag Program is 

 a European campaign started in the 1980s which encourages local authorities to provide clean 

 and safe beaches for local populations and international tourists. Blue Flag awards go to beaches 

 that achieve certain standards in water quality, beach management and safety, and environmental 

 information and education. 



A guide for tourism managers has also been developed by the World Tourism 

 Organization (WTO, 1996) on the formulation and use of indicators of sustainable tourism. 

 Indicators signal unacceptable levels of impacts or stress, and these can in turn lead to the 

 development of standards to govern tourism activities. Core indicators developed by the WTO 

 include use intensity (persons per meter of accessible beach), species counts (number of species, 

 change in composition), pollution levels (fecal coliform, heavy metal counts, etc.), and accident 

 rates (WTO, 1996). 



New tools are also being developed in cormection with coastal tourism and natural 

 disasters, such as hurricanes. The University of Florida, for example, in cooperation with the 

 Florida Hotel and Motel Association, has prepared The Hurricane Preparedness Handbook for 



3The EPA web site HYPERLINK is http://www.epa.gov/ost/beaches/overview.html. 



F-18 



