'This is a welcome addition to the literature on island tourism. It is the first sustained cross-national attempt to apply the political ecology perspective across a global sample of inter-tropical coastal settings. This conceptual framework focuses on the interaction between various tourism stakeholders - national and international, public and private - to explain the process of environmental change in island resort areas. the volume contains an unusual diversity of case studies, rich and informative in their own right. It will provide valuable reading for both tourism academics and professionals and spawn further research along the same lines.' - Jerome L. McElroy, Saint Mary's College, Indiana, US

'This book provides fascinating and readable accounts of the interplay between tourism development, politics and local environments from the new perspective of political ecology. Thus, it adds institutional depth to studies of tourism development and deserves to be read widely.' - Clem Tisdell, the University of Queensland, Australia

Tropical islands are fragile, vulnerable environments and yet they are coming under increasing strain due to coastal developments and global environmental change. As a result of their remote location, small size and limited natural resource endowments, tourism has become an important economic activity, leading to emerging conflicts between the interests of developers, tourists and residents.