Coastal and marine tourism are the fastest growing sectors of the tourism industry. Beaches and coastlines are being rapidly bought up and built up, while the number, size and ports-of-call of cruise ships is growing rapidly. Nowhere is the more apparent than in the Caribbean, the most tourism dependent region in the world.

Coastal and marine tourism are the fastest growing sectors of the tourism industry. Beaches and coastlines are being rapidly bought up and built up, while the number, size and ports-of-call of cruise ships is growing rapidly. Nowhere is the more apparent than in the Caribbean, the most tourism dependent region in the world. Some 20 million cruise passengers and another 22 million overnight resort tourists - most from the United States -- vacation in the Caribbean each year. These forms of large-scale, mass market, sun-and-sand tourism are causing a range of environmental and social problems,...