Two concepts have featured heavily in academic writing on tourist destinations
over the past three decades, one relating to the tourism area life cycle (TALC) and the other
relating to sustainable development (SD). It is argued here that these concepts have many features
in common, and that the idea of stability in the development process of a destination
is dependent on that destination living within its limits, i.e. not exceeding its tourist carrying
capacity. In the TALC this desired state equates to the stage of “stagnation” and for sustainable
development, it represents a state of sustainability. The paper reviews the issue of implementation
in the context of these concepts using two examples to illustrate how a more
sustainable form of tourism might be achieved when effective control over the development
and operation of tourism is implemented effectively