A reliable, unobtrusive wastewater collection, treatment and disposal system in tourist areas is a must. In most countries where tourism has rapidly grown, public utilities have not managed to provide sewerage and sewage treatment facilities. As a result of this there are a great number of small sewage treatment plants each serving one hotel or a group of hotels in one area. The next step seems to be to join more and more hotels to one bigger treatment plant - mostly operated by a public utility. This paper discusses the pros and cons of a centralized vs. decentralized treatment system taking into account technical and economic aspects.