Tourism destinations have a responsibility to preserve their own mainstay. Sustainable product development can aid the longevity of a destination by supporting local environmental, social and economic aspects. This, however, requires a coordinated destination approach so that sustainability is perceived as a tangible and recognisable product to guests.

While destination management organisations (DMO) are not solely responsible for sustainable development in tourism destinations, they play an important role next to approaches of companies and initiatives of the public sector. According to Timur& Getz (2008), DMOs act as central players have the greatest impact on other stakeholders regarding a destination’s development. In the tourism industry, DMOs bear the strategic responsibility to coordinate the overall supply of tourism products and marketing activities (see e.g. Bieger, 2008; Pomering et al., 2011). Therefore, they are required to develop and promote sustainable tourism and thereby take a lead role within the destination.