In [Anlehnung][1] an den Hinweis von Ulrike Fischer, die m.E. "einfachste" Lösung:
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[demo]{graphicx}% http://ctan.org/pkg/graphicx
\usepackage{lipsum}% http://ctan.org/pkg/lipsum
\usepackage[tables]{totalcount}
\begin{document}
% Conditionally insert List of Figures
Tables
\iftotaltables
\listoftables
\fi
\section{First section}
\lipsum[1]
%\begin{table}
% \caption{This is a caption}
%\end{table}
\end{document}
[1]: http://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/33193/how-to-determine-whether-a-list-of-figures-is-empty-then-not-show-it-at-all/