At its most basic, if tourism facilities and activities result in a high degree of environmental impact, tourism will be reduced. This potentially can become a "development death spiral" should the reduction in tourism causes loss in income, which results in curtailment of essential services (e.g., operation and oversight of sewage treatment plants) which further alienates tourists. Sound environmental management of tourism facilities can increase the benefits to natural areas and provide a continuous and sustainable boost to local economies. However, this requires careful planning for controlled development primarily based on the analysis of the environmental resources of the area. Planning helps to make choices between conflicting uses, or to find ways to make them compatible. By planning early for tourism development, damaging and expensive mistakes can be prevented, avoiding the gradual deterioration of environmental assets significant to tourism.

Local governments often in collaboration or with the help of international organisations and/or Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) for example, have taken a number of initiatives to develop national strategies or master plans for sustainable tourism. These plans incorporate regulatory mechanisms and tools, such as environmental assessments, development of building regulations and environmental standards for tourism through which tourism is to be made sustainable in the long term. Typical examples of such management approaches include the creation of marine protected areas and the promotion of voluntary initiatives.
However, all too often, such management plans are not developed let alone implemented until loss of revenue and environmental degradation has occurred. By then parts of the damage may be irreversible and sustainable management approaches useless and ineffective.