Drawing upon the findings of an empirical study of ecotourism in Crete (Saatsakis, 2018), this industry focussed paper discusses and reflects upon the development of successful ecotourism for the Island and its well-being. Greece, including the island of Crete, is strongly committed to the implementation of the 2030 agenda for the sustainable development in balancing its economic growth, protection of the environment and social cohesion, so “no one is left behind”. The paper is supported with evidence from research of several years in Crete and from personal experience of the first author working in the Cretan tourism industry, both in the public and private sectors (Saatsakis, 2018).

Keywords: Ecotourism, Crete, Sustainability, Development, Challenges, Tourism planning