Sustainable tourism is a malleable concept which needs to be operationalised for successful implementation. Policies based on firm conceptualisations are needed in order to put sustainable tourism into practice. The present research develops a conceptual model to support sustainable tourism policy making. It brings together into a single model knowledge from diverse sources and structures it as a system of interrelated components using a systemic, holistic approach. A wide array of topics of tourism literature were retrieved and reviewed. These included policies undertaken in north Mediterranean countries, policy recommendations, principles and the discourse on sustainable tourism, tourism impacts and other specific issues revealed during the research process. Literature findings, treated as data, were coded and inductively analysed to identify themes and patterns and to classify them into categories, followed by interpretation to organise them into hierarchical constructs. No hypothesis or external analytical frameworks were imposed on them. Induction and interpretation followed an iterative process, during which initial categories found in the data were progressively refined and integrated to result in a hierarchical classification. In building the model it is the interrelationships of the elements that shape it and underline its contribution as something more than a listing of policy considerations. This comprehensive representation of interrelationships should help policy makers to navigate through the complexities of sustainable tourism and to make more knowledgeable decisions.