Tourism development in the coastal environment has interfaced with the original characteristics of the area upon which it relied for attracting tourists. An overall review of tourism research on the environment shows that nations do not give priority to environmental sustainability and disregard it to the benefit of economic development. Rapid and uncontrolled tourism development in the coastal zones has exposed their fragile ecosystems to an ever-increasing risk of environmental degradation. Tourism has also impacted on global warming through excessive energy use, transportation, water consumption, waste generation, etc. The impacts of tourism have been sorted into four general categories, with more elaboration on the impacts of ‘3 Ss’ tourism on coastal areas, followed by a few facts about the negative impacts of tourism in different countries; the author presents a general framework for tourism impact assessment in coastal environments. The article ends with some suggestions in the hope of effective transition towards sustainable tourism in coastal areas.
Key words: environmental impact assessment, strategic environmental assessment, coastal zone & tourism
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