Diploma Thesis from the year 2001 in the subject Tourism - Miscellaneous, grade: 1.3, Heilbronn University, language: English, abstract: Often referred to as the 'smokeless industry', tourism has become one of the fastest growing, most dynamic sectors of economic growth in the world. Tourism is a key sector in many developing countries, which show potential. However, over-reliance on tourism, especially mass tourism carries significant risks to tourism-dependent economies.
As a result, many developing countries have since espoused the principle of sustainability in shaping their tourism policies. However, few of them have been able to convert this into concrete action owing to the short-term economic interests to which, all too often, priority is given, to the detriment of protecting social and environmental assets.

The purpose of this paper is to create and formulate clear, firm and equitable guidelines in a tourism policy concept that is set in the context of sustainable development and aims further to raise the competitive position of a destination. Theory will be demonstrated in practical terms in the case of the Caribbean tourism destination, the Dominican Republic.