Coastal tourism

I am sure all us have been to the beach at least once, since Singapore is literally an island surrounded by water. Many of us, including myself, dream to go to a beautiful beach, in Maldives or Hawaii, with white fine sand and clear blue water, and spend the day exploring the amazing marine life around the area or simple admiring the mesmerizing sunset, without the connection to the real world. This flawless image created by the countless pictures threading on the internet or social media, is also the reason why so many people are willing to travel across the globe to enjoy a few days away from the hectic lives, by the beach.

Recently, I came across this article on coastal tourism, which talks about the problems and solutions to a more sustainable industry. Although tourism brings in huge amounts of revenue every year, the overdevelopment and poor management of coastal tourism caused severe damages to marine life, by clearing mangroves and coral reefs, or claiming more land to construct structures such as ports and resorts. Unregulated human activities such as diving or snorkeling into sensitive areas, and close up interactions with marine animals such as dolphins and whales, may cause biodiversity loss and affect animal’s behavior towards humans. Furthermore, the increase demand of local cuisine or seafood for tourists may also place pressure on local fish population and results in overfishing.

To ensure that coastal tourism is sustainable without harming the areas that tourism is dependent on, it is important to effectively manage this industry and find a balance between tourism and these areas. Education of local communities on the ways to protect their natural resources could be a way to encourage sustainable management as a community; and education of tourists about the natural scenery they enjoy and the potential harms they may cause allows them to better appreciate the beauty of the beach and are able to plan the activities with better awareness. Global initiatives are also taken such as Convention on Biological Diversity to provide guidelines for policy makers to maintain a sustainable tourism industry from a top-down approach. 

In Singapore, since the 1960s, land reclamation and many developments that took place along our coasts caused severe damages to our environment. And Singapore, as one of the countries heavily dependent on the tourism industry, I feel that it is also important to educate our citizens and tourists about the risks that their actions may bring to the environment. Even though Sentosa, one major tourist attraction, is relatively clean, beaches nearer to the residential areas are usually filled with rubbish! In conclusion, proper management should be put in place to ensure sustainable coastal tourism and we should also be aware of the harms that coastal tourism may bring, so that when we go over to other countries, we do not damage their environment too.

Reference

Ghosh, Tuhin. "Sustainable Coastal Tourism: Problems and Management Options." Journal of Geography and Geology 4, no. 1 (2012): 163-63.