Advanced planning and follow-up are required to maintain a safe and secure environment for visitors. Tourists take their safety for granted when they go to the beach or visit a coastal resort or even rent a sailboat for the day. Yet the coast is inherently a place with real risks, even under good weather conditions. Swimmers can drown and boats can collide or go aground, poisonous jellyfish can sting. And, of course, episodic large storms and hurricanes can have devastating consequences in coastal areas heavily populated with visitors.
Maintaining an adequate level of safety and accident prevention requires properly marked channels, rescue services, oversight of boating safety requirements (e.g., life jackets and other emergency equipment), and monitoring and enforcement of boating operations, including so- called "thrill craft".


Sea level rise is causing some of the most beautiful beaches, and thus some of the favourite tourism destinations, to disappear (e.g. Maldives). Climate change is also likely to increase the risk of certain illnesses in several countries throughout the world and thus discourage tourism. Higher temperatures might discourage tourists from travelling to locations such as the south of Spain and the eastern Mediterranean due to discomfort.


There also seem to be an increased resurgence of Biotoxins.