The purpose of this doctoral thesis is based on theoretical knowledge to conceptualize a model for measuring the impact of the political environment on quality of life and support for sustainable tourism development at the destination. The concept of the political environment was examined through two key elements of the concept: political power and political trust as separate concepts. For experimental analysis, a measurement instrument with 43 items was developed, which comprised six key measurement constructs: political power, political trust, positive tourism impacts, negative tourism impacts, quality of life, and support for sustainable tourism development. Primary data were collected by the online questionnaire, and data analysis was performed on a sample of 554 respondents in two destinations, Rovinj in Croatia (338n) and Budva in Montenegro (216n), using univariate, bivariate and multivariate statistical analysis method (factor analysis, modelling by structural equations). The doctoral thesis partially supported the preceding assessments of the construct in the works of diverse authors and extended the existing knowledge about the impact of the political environment in the destination on the quality of life and local community support for sustainable tourism development. The results of measuring the concepts of political trust and political power showed that the local community perceives and evaluates the efforts of local forces in planning and implementing public policies and therefore sustainable development through the prism of tourism impacts and perceived quality of life in the destination. The results can help the local community and all stakeholders in the destination to understand the role of the political environment in the destination's life with a specific attention on sustainable tourism development. By recognizing the needs of the local community, understanding the causes of their behaviour in the shared network and anticipating their future intentions or needs, it is possible to create a sustainable living environment to the satisfaction of the local community. Research into the impact of the political environment on the sustainable development of the destination took place during the crisis period of the pandemic caused by the coronavirus Covid-19, which had an exceptionally unpredictable impact on all fields of human living. Because for the first time in the history of humanity such a situation took place that disrupted regular life overnight and threatened the professional and personal lifestyles of lots of humans, it is imperative to examine the results in the global Covid-19 crisis.