Introduction Sustainable tourism is an adaptive paradigm, borrowed from the parental concept of sustainable development (Hunter, 1997; Tosun, 2001). Sustainable development was made popular following the publication of the book “Our Common Future” by the World Commission on the Environment and Development (WCED) in 1987, where it is defined as “development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (p. 42). This definition embeds two aspects. The first component relates to the meaning of development and the conditions necessary for sustainability (Miltin, 1992). In this context, development implies a process that raises the standard of living of people, relating not only to increasing the wealth of individuals but also to changing behaviors, aspirations and the different ways in which people view the world around them (Bartelmus, 1986; Hall, 2019). Therefore, development is not only concerned with institutional and economic changes but it also involves broader concerns such as quality of life, poverty reduction and prosperity (Hall, 2019). The second component of sustainable development takes a futuristic perspective of the term development. Thus, sustainable development embeds the following principles. First, any forms of development should be considered as a long term strategy and that policies aiming at achieving only short term gains should be rejected. Second, sustainable development focuses on inter and intra-generation balance of welfare. Third, the term applies to any countries, regardless of the type of development taking place, the level of development, and the socio-cultural and political conditions, although policies supporting sustainable tourism should be place-specific (Nunkoo and Gursoy, 2012; Nunkoo et al., 2010; Tosun, 2001).