Sustainable Tourism Law

466 SUSTAINABLE TOURISM LAW Thus, and as a general rule, golf does not divert agriculture, it simply succeeds it, in the way that it often uses areas that once had an agricultural usage but which, for some reason, ceased to be used for that purpose. On the contrary, setting up a golf course often enables and structures around it the operation of other activities, including returning some of those belonging to the primary sector, namely forestry, trailblazing and the creation of other access points, extending the electric power grid and ensuring the installation of further infrastructures on locations far from urban agglomerations. Therefore, apart from being an element of the tourist offer, golf must also be seen as a structuring factor of the economic activity of a respective location, thus it is not fair to label it as a large consumer of resources, as it often is, at least without due consideration. IV – Tourism respects and preserves the environment. Moreover, it could not be otherwise, seeing as tourism destinations and products can only be built on an aggregating vision and a consistent concept that highlights the potential of its offer, joined afterwards by the necessary development of appropriate promotion and marketing policies, as well as the daily affirmation of its sustainability. A sustainability perspective must always be adhered to for the obvious reason that investments in the sector generally have a long and very long termnature, therefore it becomes absolutely necessary and decisive that the established supply is properly maintained and the respective attributes are safeguarded, so the locations can continue to be enjoyed by tourists, and remain in competitive conditions throughout its useful life or for many years after it was first made available! It is only through a planned and integrated articulation that the necessary coordination can be ensured between the creation of a tourist offer which is both attractive andof superior qualitywhile putting inplace essential surrounding elements. Those include sanitation networks and other basic infrastructures, access points as well as urban landscapes, so that the tourist resort fits in an orderly environment and is not confronted with unfinished works, infrastructures and access points. In fact, we can only have a quality tourist offer if the social, urban and environmental context is also adequately developed. This integrated vision for project implementation and coordination in interventions during the decision-making process sets aside the idea of tourism as a resource-consuming sector and gives it the character of a development generator. However, the strand of sustainability in Tourism is broader than mere respect for the landscape and environmental context, or the perspective of reducing the