Tourism is closely linked to the preservation of a healthy environment, which in turn is an essential element of tourism development and helps to raise public awareness on some environmental issues. Tourism policies are developed at national and regional level and may have an important impact on biodiversity and sustainability.
The prospect of tourist dollars has transformed Baltimore's waterfront into a lively marketplace, and San Francisco owes its remaining cable cars to their international appeal. African wildlife, once seemingly doomed, enjoys new value as a tourist lure for photo safaris. In the long run, California's redwoods will prove more valuable left standing upright than chopped for lumber. Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, a major cruise port, has never looked better thanks to tourism-sparked restoration efforts.
Sustainable tourism, in many areas, is providing extra resources and employment to local communities giving them additional motivation for the conservation of nature and protection of the environment.