Sustainability is understood as an ethically motivated guiding principle for future-oriented social development, which is constantly subject to trade-offs between different interests. In this process, tourism is seen both as an ally of sustainable development and as a cause of undesired ecological and socio-cultural effects. First applied to tourism in connection with a number of alternative niche markets, an integrated view of sustainability relating to the entire tourism industry has since emerged. Nevertheless, the multi-faceted interactions with a range of social and economic processes has precluded the formulation of a tourism-specific definition of sustainability. For this reason, the authors advocate the term "sustainability in tourism", which describes tourism as a component of a wider sustainable development. This interpretation permits a systemic approach within which different, mutually influencing economic sectors and levels of action interact and under which all principles of sustainability can be classified. Quelle: Foschungsbericht