The development of sustainable tourism requires a clear identification of key success factors that create a balance between economic progress, environmental protection and socio-cultural well-being. However, the vague, subjective and diverse nature of expert opinions involved in the process of tourism planning and policy formulation makes it difficult to identify these factors. This study proposes the application of the Fuzzy Delphi method in order to systematically identify and validate the key success factors for the development of sustainable tourism.

The Fuzzy Delphi method is applied to integrate expert opinions, measure the level of consensus and exclude less important factors based on predefined threshold criteria. The results of the study show that key success factors such as effective management and regulatory support, environmental protection measures, active participation of local communities, development of sustainable infrastructure, as well as the application of innovative and smart tourism technologies come to the fore. The results obtained create a structured and reliable methodological basis for making strategic decisions in the process of sustainable tourism planning and policy development. The proposed Fuzzy Delphi method provides a flexible approach that can be adapted to different tourism environments and destinations, while increasing transparency and reliability in expert assessments.