ABSTRACT Sustainable tourism of a destination largely depends on several factors. Sustainable tourism development must basically have a regional and local component. It is very important that the local community is involved in the tourism of a destination and participates to the greatest extent in its development. The capacities and resources of a particular tourist region, city or town, the number of arrivals and the type of tourists visiting it should be well weighed. The natural, infrastructural and social capacity of the destination must be in some way equal to the amount of tourists coming. Everything must have its measure. In order to achieve an ideal balance between tourists and the community, energy, knowledge and creativity should be directed towards strengthening the natural basis, tradition, autochthony, and subordinating everything to the social interests of the population. The sustainable development of destination tourism is just that - to include the population in the tourism product as much as possible, so that it benefits from tourism and lives from tourism all year round. Tourism must not be a "separate organism" from the community and its interests. A strong ecological component, renewable energy, valuation of cultural and historical heritage, art and tradition, is the key to sustainable destination tourism. New trends in tourism through culture, sports, nature, health and recreation bring sustainability to the development of the tourist area. Ultimately, everything lies in the consciousness of the individual and the collective, which direction to choose - spontaneous short-term tourism that achieves good but short-term results or continuous long-term tourism development that achieves long-term income and life quality of the local community.