Tourism is now one of the world's largest industries and one of its fastest growing economic sectors. The expected growth in the tourism sector and the increasing reliance of many developing countries, including small island developing States, on this sector as a major employer and contributor to local, national, subre-gional and regional economies highlights the need for special attention to the relationship between environmental conservation and protection and sustainable tourism. In this regard, efforts of developing countries to broaden the traditional concept of tourism to include cultural and eco- tourism merit special consideration and the assistance of the international community, including the international financial institutions.

There is a need to consider further the importance of tourism in the context of Agenda 21. Tourism, like other sectors, uses resources and generates wastes, and creates environmental, cultural and social costs and benefits in the process. For sustainable patterns of consumption and production in the tourism sector, it is essential to strengthen national policy development and enhance capacity in the areas of physical planning, impact assessment, and the use of economic and regulatory instruments, as well as in the areas of information, education and marketing. A particular concern is the degradation of biodiversity and fragile ecosystems, such as coral reefs, mountains, coastal areas and wetlands.

Policy development and implementation should take place in cooperation with all interested parties, especially the private sector and local and indigenous communities. The Commission should develop an action-oriented international programme of work on sustainable tourism, to be defined in cooperation with the World Tourism Organization, UNCTAD, UNEP, the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity and other relevant bodies.

The sustainable development of tourism is of importance for all countries, in particular for small island developing States. International cooperation is needed to facilitate tourism development in developing countries - including the development and marketing of ecotourism, bearing in mind the importance of the conservation policies required to secure long-term benefits from development in this sector - in particular in small island developing States, in the context of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States.