Flip and Seamy Side of Coastal Tourism

For too many people, the favourite place to live is close to the sea, therefore, the coasts all around the world have become a place to live, for tourists, and a location for touristic resorts. Nevertheless, the presence and constant human activity have caused a negative impact on the marine ecosystems and the species that live there.

According to a report of the enterprise of Water and Sewer Services of Monterrey, Mexico, the coastal zones are the ones with the biggest quantity of biodiversity on the planet and the most populated as well. According to the ONU, 60 per cent of the global population—plus the people that were already on the planet in 1960—live within 60 km of coasts. And the activities that affect these zones the most are construction (dykes and dams) and touristic activities.

In many cases the local population doesn’t get benefits from tourism because it often threatens the local culture and doesn’t contribute to the income in a big way since most of it is used by foreign investors.

Every year, a big percentage of tourists arrive to coasts all over the world. In fact, tourism is the largest and fastest growing industry globally. Tourism and some other related activities in the industry generate 11 per cent of the Global Domestic Product, employing 200 million people and transporting 700 million travellers every year. Additionally, it is expected that by the year 2020 this number will double, especially in the non-developed countries.

However, the locals aren’t the only ones affected by the secondary effects. The marine ecosystems are the most damaged due to the huge quantity of tourists that arrive during holiday season to relatively small areas and cause severe ecological damage.

A huge example of this is the Australian Great Barrier Reef where the population is about 130 thousand people, and it is divided into two small zones: Cairns and the Whitsunday Islands.

They receive 85 per cent of the tourists who visit the Great Barrier Reef. The pollution in coastal regions like this one leaves the local infrastructure and these habitats under too much tension.