Contemporary Challenges of Island Tourism Development

Island tourism development is increasingly shaped by challenges arising from pronounced seasonal concentration of tourism demand, pressure on communal infrastructure, and cumulative environmental stress in a mature island destination. These challenges are particularly pronounced in mature island destinations, where cumulative pressures require adaptive governance and context-specific policy responses. This paper explores the contemporary challenges of island tourism development through a qualitative case study of Mali Lošinj, one of Croatia's most developed island tourism destinations. The study adopts a qualitative case study approach based on document and discourse analysis of strategic and institutional materials related to tourism development in Mali Lošinj. Selected findings from a survey conducted among local residents in September 2025 are used as a supplementary source of evidence for triangulation purposes. The findings indicate that Mali Lošinj faces interconnected challenges related to seasonal tourism concentration, infrastructure capacity constraints, and cumulative pressure on the natural environment, including pronounced seasonality and governance-related implementation constraints. While sustainability is strongly embedded in institutional discourse and strategic planning, persistent development pressures highlight gaps between policy intentions and practical outcomes. Residents' perceptions largely align with institutional assessments regarding key challenges, although uncertainties remain concerning the effectiveness of sustainability measures. The paper contributes to the literature on island tourism development by illustrating how general sustainability challenges materialise in a mature island context.