ABSTRACT
Tourism is one of the world's largest and fastest-growing industries. Environmental amenities, and coastal area resources in particular, are a strong attraction for tourists. Small coastal communities often see this as an opportunity to exploit their resources to promote economic development. Many of these communities, however, are ill prepared in terms of organizational capacity, trained personnel, resources and infrastructure to accommodate the growing number of visitors and their accompanying development. Uncontrolled rapid tourism development can be associated with a series of direct and indirect environmental, social, and economic costs. These include increases in pollution, congestion, noise, crime, visual deterioration of the natural and man-made environment, economic instability caused by over-concentration in a single sector at the cost of traditional activities, and over-dependence on external seasonal fluctuation of demand [ 1 - 3 ].
