Sustainable tourism in small islands : the case of Malta

Abstract

The issue of sustainable tourism is often discussed in terms of the balance between economic and environmental concerns. It is well known that many, if not all, economic activities have an impact on the environment and that this has a feedback effect on the economy itself. This is especially so in the case of tourism which utilises the environment as a resource. Tourism depends to a very large extent on an milieu which is pleasant and attractive to tourists, and negative environmental impacts caused by tourism itself, may therefore have the effect of “soiling one’s own nest” in the long run.