This paper provides a background to the origins of sustainable tourism development, highlighting key areas of rationale for adoption. The paper’s main focus however will encourage the audience to question Western ideological discourse, suggesting that despite its benefits there appear many limitations associated with the adoption of sustainability principle s to include the juxtaposition of definitions, implementation difficulties and the influence of political-economic power in shaping development. As identified by Tosun (2000) in his research surrounding sustainable development in developing countries, 'any operation of principles of sustainable development necessitates hard political and economic choices, and decisions based upon complex socio-economic and environmental trade-offs'. These trade-offs appear to a greater extent to be shaped by not only the political economy within which the destination operates but also under the pressures of global political-economic forces
