Key challenges in the implementation of sustainable tourism

Purpose – The paper discusses the key issues and challenges in the implementation of sustainable development in the context of tourism, that have been occurred during last two decades. Methodology – On the basis of the relevant literature, key issues and challenges in implementing the concept of sustainable development of tourism are reviewed. Also, the paper discusses the concept of tourist destinations as complex adaptable systems. In the final part, the significance of the concept of complex adaptable systems for the implementation of sustainable tourism is analyzed, and, consequently, key conclusions are drawn. Findings – There is a similarity between sustainable tourism, which means such a form of tourism development that can be maintained for an indefinite period, and a concept of complex adaptive systems. Exactly the capability of destinations to adapt to external and internal factors, allows tourism to be maintained for an indefinite period. However, it is questionable whether such a form of tourism that is being developed for an indefinite period of time corresponds to the principles of sustainable development. It seems that ‘sustainable tourism’ can be achieved in real life, but ‘sustainable development in the context of tourism’ seems to be a fluid and elusive concept. Contribution – The paper raises and discusses important and timely issues in the implementation of sustainable development in tourism. Many of these issues have already been the topic of the tourism discourse, but they are used and addressed in a new way in this paper. It is needed to stress the attempt to link sustainable tourism and the theory of complex adaptive systems, which facilitates us to understand the ability of tourism to recover from the events that have occurred in recent period, as well as the ability of certain destinations to maintain popularity and achieve the sustained growth in the long term.