Negative Environmental Impacts of Beach Tourism: With special reference to Unawatuna coastal area

Abstract

Beach tourism is one of the main environmental based tourism product since tourism started as an industry in Sri Lanka. There is a non-breakable bond between environment and tourism. Therefore it is important to identify impacts on the environment due to the tourism industry. The main objective of this research was to identify the negative environmental impacts of beach tourism. The research question was “what kind of environmental negative impacts can be seen in coastal areas due to beach tourism?” Unawatuna was selected as a study area because this coastal area was named as one of the best beaches in the world and highly engaged with tourism industry since the colonial period. Therefore many environmental negative impacts can be seen related to Unawatuna beach area. Field observations and interviews used as primary sources of data collecting methods. The sample was randomly selected at the site. Problems related to waste products and marine water pollution, negative impacts on coastal flora and fauna, exceeding carrying capacity, visual pollution, weakness of common facilities and coastal erosion are the problems related to study area. Establishing green hotels and green belts, developing visitor facilities, introducing the proper wastage management system and handling Environmental Impact Assessment Surveys before every development projects are some recommendations for avoiding negative impacts of beach tourism.