ABSTRACT
The United States of America (USA) represents a substantial land mass of diverse geography. A country which, in the context of this fi eld of enquiry, is all the more complex given it encompasses such a diverse range of states and given its political structures and overall governance. Thus, to address the environmental performance of tourism enterprises within the United States potentially is beyond the constraints of any one chapter. The objective herein is therefore to provide an overview of the progress that is being made, the steps that have and are being taken, to encourage the protection of the environment per se, on which tourism is so dependent, and to encourage tourism enterprises to address their environmental performance. In pursuance of this objective, fi rst a brief outline of the United States is presented within which the primacy of federal agencies as the guardians of the environment is identifi ed. National tourism policy is then considered before moving on to discuss the role of federal and regional agencies and then key examples of nongovernmental organisations and professional tourism organisations and their contribution to promoting progress towards sustainability in the tourism sector.
