In the backdrop of more aggressive climate change, globalization and economy crashes has occurred; sustainable tourism is becoming evermore relevant to national economies. This will not only help in saving the natural resources and the cultural heritage but also have possibilities to unlock new economic development avenues for countries. At the same time, sustainable tourism has not been free of its own problem areas such as high costs for environmental measures and lack of legal regulation to criminalize unsustainable activities or low awareness about how really important it is by both sectors (to be inherent part), private business practitioners the public concerned. This paper is aimed at a deep economic analysis of sustainable tourism, its main issues and opportunities for national economies by outlining various global challenges from the perspective of the 21st century. The paper discusses three key themes surrounding sustainable tourism development – constraints for investment, inadequate resource innovation and state support. A comparative analysis of practices in foreign countries is used to explore the capabilities that sustainable tourism has for stabilizing the economy, creating new jobs, improving infrastructure and increasing competitive advantages of countries on a global scale. Special emphasis goes to the influence of sustainable tourism on countries’ GDP and measures that can be taken in order to promote environmental costs through utilizing green energies. The results of this study show that sustainable tourism can be one driving forces helping economic development in all countries, but particularly those with many resources and are trying to attract foreign tourists. It provides a set of concrete suggestions for governments and the private sector on embedding sustainable tourism in national strategies to prevent not just external shocks but also foster long-term economic development. The relevance of interaction between government agencies, businesses and overseas corporations is also highlighted to ensure the successful development within this sector. The findings of the article are valuable for management at tourism enterprises, government bodies in charge on its territory and researchers investigating how sustainable tourism leads to economic gains as well as practical work with tracking progress towards sustainability within policies promoting a more sustainable (economic) development for the tourist business.