1998 Year of the Ocean Coastal Tourism and Recreation 



• Conduct of studies on the dynamics of tourism in coastal and marine areas. For 

 example, what constitutes an optimal type and scale of coastal tourism? Who gets 

 what, when, and where from expanded tourism? What is the distribution of benefits 

 from tourism? (Richter, 1983). 



3. U.S. promotional efforts to attract foreign tourists to U.S. coastal areas lag significantly 

 behind those of other nations. Foreign tourists use U.S. coastal areas very frequently and 

 contribute significantly to jobs, earnings, and tax revenues in coastal communities. Foreign 

 competition in marketing other world coastal destinations, however, is increasing. In contrast to 

 many other governments, the U.S. government spends very little in tourism promotion. 



4. Federal policies and programs essential for the maintenance of healthy coastal tourism 

 and recreation (coastal planning and management, clean water, beach nourishment, 

 management of coastal hazards and of coastal safety) are interrelated and should be 

 treated as a whole. The economic viability and sustainability of coastal tourism and recreation 

 are directly affected by at least four sets of federal policies and programs: 



• Coastal plarming and management (CZM) programs, especially in relation to the 

 appropriate siting of tourism development and in ensuring public access, are of 

 central importance in sustainable coastal tourism. 



• Clean water and healthy ecosystem programs are vital to sustainable coastal tourism. 



• 



• 



Programs to ensure a safe coastal environment, especially with reference to natural 

 hazards such as hurricanes and storms and to the maintenance of safe marine 

 recreational and boating conditions, are essential for sustainable coastal tourism. 



Programs to maintain recreational beaches, by means of beach re-nourishment to 

 combat erosion and relative sea-level rise, are also of central concern to sustainable 

 coastal tourism. 



• Programs to protect wildlife and coastal habitats are also essential to sustainable 

 coastal tourism. 



While a variety of federal efforts are focused on different programs of importance to 

 coastal tourism, these have not been successfully coordinated. To remedy this situation, 

 consideration could be given to the creation of an interagency initiative devoted to coastal 

 tourism among the major federal agencies with programs in this area (e.g., NOAA (NOS 

 [OCRM, NMS, NERRS], NMFS, OAR), the Department of Interior (Coastal Barrier Program, 

 Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service), EPA, FEMA, Army Corps of Engineers, 

 Coast Guard, etc.). Related options could entail the mobilization of a public-private partnership 

 to work in conjunction with the federal inter-agency group (involving such entities as state 

 coastal programs, state tourist offices, aquaria, and waterfront redevelopers), and the 



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