Abstract. Cartography and maps have historically been valuable tools for tourism and travellers. In the pre-COVID era, tourism had been rapidly growing worldwide. supported by all the newest developments in information and communications technology (ICT). This fact raises concerns about its potential negative impact on tourist destinations. Sustainable management of tourist destinations is thus becoming necessary and stakeholders and individuals are already developing relevant initiatives and actions where cartography and geospatial information could play a special role.The profile of the modern traveller, however, is concurrently also rapidly changing. Modern travellers now have a wealth of internet resources available to them to aid them in selecting a tourist destination and planning a trip. Online maps are an example of such resources and are usually products of the so-called “new cartography”. The aim of this paper is to present the way in which tourist destinations are presented on the web through maps, what kind of geospatial information these maps contain, whether they follow cartographic standards and lastly, whether they provide an integrated presentation of the destination supporting sustainable management and satisfying the demands of the modern traveller.

The tourism industry through interaction with information and communication technologies is being strongly influenced and transformed rapidly. Spatial information in the form of novel smart web maps can become a significant factor in documenting the identity of tourist destinations. As geoinformatics and cartography evolve, they can play a substantial role in promoting the tourist destination and eventually, sustainable tourism development for the region, which is required by all stakeholders. In its first part, the chapter discusses the current tourism model and the necessity for sustainable management. In this framework, it then delves into the role of new cartographies and the use of maps in official tourist platforms for popular island tourist destinations in Mediterranean Sea, as well as the requirements of new tourists according to new cartographic trends. The aim of the chapter is to highlight the current and potential contribution of new cartographies to a sustainable and responsible tourism development.

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