Caribbean Travel and Tourism (HM321)

Name: Dondre Fawkes
Student #: 620023009
Lecturer: Ms. Mackay

Negative environmental impact of tourism in the Caribbean
Coastal and Marine Resources

The overall environmental effects of tourism in the Caribbean involve environmental degradation which hinders sustainability. Environmental effects related to tourism are problematic and may cause irreversible impacts. These environmental effects include urbanization, over exploitation of resources, coastal erosion, deterioration of water quality, increased pollution levels, deforestation, and the destruction of coral reefs, mangroves and sea grass beds. Many of these factors reduce the resilience of the ecosystems. Furthermore, it should …show more content…

Tourism also adds to the consumption of seafood in an area, putting pressure on local fish populations and sometimes contributing to overfishing. Collection of corals, shells, and other marine souvenirs- either by individual tourists, or local people who then sell the souvenirs to tourists, also has a detrimental effect on the local marine resources.
The reality is there are recommendations that can be design and implemented to alleviate or eradicate the problems. First, tourism activities in the wildlife preserves, coastal and marine ecosystems should be appropriately planned, monitored and managed to ensure that they do not conflict with conservation and sustainable use of resources. The visitor carrying capacity of national parks and marine eco-systems should be determined and the number of tourists regulated to avoid overcrowding and the degradation of the natural beauty of tourism resources. Also, where possible, environmental impact assessment reports should be required before the construction of new tourists’ facilities and infrastructure. This is to ensure that tourism projects do not conflict with the principles of wildlife conservation and the sustainable use of tourism resources. Most importantly, tourism facilities should not be situated on