Eilat and Aqaba are visited by nearly a million tourists a year. In the cities at the head of the bay there are about 12,000 rooms in tens of hotels. Along the coast, apart from hotels there are many attractions. Tourism has a great effect on the coral reef. The tourist activity in the coral consists of swimming, diving, docking of boats near the coral, the use of "glass boats" or tourist submarines. The physical damage to the coral is caused by stepping on the reef and the breaking it, the removal of silt above the groaned, on the reef, the disposal of trash, etc… amount of the damage in the coral rises as the number of visitors grows. The collecting of corals for decorative purposes by tourists is very common and causes impoverishment of the natural population of animals and corals. These skeletons of corals are sold as souvenirs or are used in the jewelry industry and for decorative products. Tourist activity and seashells collectors, that increase every year, cause an elimination of rare species from the coral. Coral skeletons are also used as a medium for decoration, sculpting and construction.