Guyana, aware of its potential as an ecotourism destination, is struggling to manage the competing demands of development and conservation.

BBC: Guyana��s path to paradise

"In those cases where the destination has overdeveloped, where it has gone over the critical limit of development, one of the only solutions is that you demolish hotels, you create green areas, you rehabilitate the beach areas, you try to bring back some of the biodiversity, " said Dr Tom Selanniemi of the Tour Operators Initiative for Sustainable Tourism Development.

BBC: Med threat from 'concrete coasts'

The SIP, which emerged out of rice fields and farmland, is a truly remarkable example of how planning can transform a sleepy tourist destination into an economic juggernaut. (This also remains one of my favorite economic development stories in all of China.) Two key factors drove the development of the SIP.

FORBES: Thoughts on China