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Impact of tourism in coastal areas: Need of sustainable tourism strategy

Tourists sunbathing on a beach used by loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) for Nnesting, some with beach umbrellas which can hurt turtle nests. Zákinthos, Greece. © WWF-Canon / Michel GUNTHER

Since the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, there is increasing awareness of the importance of sustainable forms of tourism. Although tourism, one of the world largest industries, was not the subject of a chapter in Agenda 21, the Programme for the further implementation of Agenda 21, adopted by the General Assembly at its nineteenth special session in 1997, included sustainable tourism as one of its sectoral themes. Furthermore in 1996, The World Tourism Organization jointly with the tourism private sector issued an Agenda 21 for the Travel and Tourism Industry, with 19 specific areas of action recommended to governments and private operators towards sustainability in tourism.