The growth of coastal tourism in the Red Sea has also had substantial impacts on coral reefs in terms of both the effects of construction and infrastructure development as well as the direct affects of snorkeling and diving. According to Hawkins and Roberts approximately 19% of Egypt’s reefs were substantially affected by tourism in the early 1990s, but this figure was expected to rise to over
30% by the year 2000. Given the accessibility of the coastlines of Israel, Egypt and Jordan and the development plans of government, substantial increases in environmental impacts were reported. For example, Israel plans a further 43% increase in coastal tourism, Jordan 100% and Egypt a massive 11-fold expansion. Of the planned expansion in Egypt, 55% is designated around the established resorts of Hurgharda and Sharm-el-Sheikh. Hawkins and Roberts reported that tourist-related development has already caused substantial damage to inshore reefs near to Hurgharda from infilling, sedimentation and over-fishing for marine curios. Elsewhere in the region, the construction of tourist facilities and infrastructure was also beginning to modify reef habitats which up until the early 1990s has been generally restricted to the direct effects of diving and snorkeling. While the growth in the number of arrivals to the Red Sea area appeared to be sustainable for the planned developments, the authors concluded that the massive expansion planned throughout the northern Red Sea substantially threatened the reef ecosystem and warned that unless the pace of tourist development is reduced the carrying capacity of coral reefs would be exceeded with widespread reef degradation being the likely result.