These liabilities are however compensated by a major consideration, namely that all Mediterranean countries are heavily dependent on tourism to improve their balance of payments.Hence,the continued destruction of their coastal environments and natural amenities would jeopardise this much coveted tourism development.By 2025,in the case of a weak traditional development scenario.the number of domestic tourists in the Mediterranean region would reach 140 million and the number of international tourists 93 million,whereas in the case of a strong and sustainable development scenario,these figures could each 220 million and 143 million respectively.The challenge is to make such tourism development sustainable.