Traditional travel agencies and tour operators are recognized as relevant stakeholders in the tourism distribution chain, even though their role as transforming agents in the achievement of more sustainable tourism is beginning to be accepted. This study aims at reviewing the main topics and the most recent approaches from the academic literature in its analysis of corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices developed by these intermediaries. The work has been structured around six recurring themes in most of the studies carried out: the new intermediaries that operate on the Internet; the role of travel agencies and tour operators in tourism sustainability; the influence of the size of the company; CSR as a disruptive innovation in this sector; the potential of the sustainable tourism supply chain; and the motivations and attitudes of the managers of these businesses when they engage with responsibility. This last topic is developed in greater detail since it is closely linked to the previous ones and dictates, in most cases, the meaning and function of the sustainable performance. The conclusions show how tourism intermediaries have only just begun to develop CSR policies, and those that are committed to their implementation mostly opt for actions aimed at the environment.

Traditional travel agencies and tour operators are recognized as relevant stakeholders in the tourism distribution chain, even though their role as transforming agents in the achievement of more sustainable tourism is beginning to be accepted. This document collects the main topics and the most recent approaches from the academic literature in its analysis of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices developed by these intermediaries. The work has been structured around six recurring themes in most of the studies carried out: the new intermediaries that operate on the Internet; the role of travel agencies and tour operators in tourism sustainability; the influence of the size of the company; CSR as a disruptive innovation in this sector; the potential of the sustainable tourism supply chain; and the motivations and attitudes of the managers of these businesses when they engage with responsibility. This last topic is developed in greater detail since it is closely linked to the previous ones and dictates in most cases the meaning and function of the sustainable performance.

Platform-mediated free tours in major European cultural cities, where they are notably prominent, remain underexplored in academic literature, despite their role as a contributing factor to overtourism in some instances. This research explores the characteristics of this tourism phenomenon by investigating consumers’ motivations and interactions with it. This is accomplished through a quantitative approach using Ajzen’s well-established theory of planned behaviour (TPB), which has demonstrated its efficacy in predicting various intentions and behaviours. A structural equation model (SEM) was constructed to shed light on the determinants of tourists’ choice of platform-mediated free tours. Our extended TPB model includes trust in the platform eWOM, sustainability values and online loyalty constructs. The results provide insight into tourists’ decision-making processes and validate the TPB’s efficacy in explaining a substantial portion of the variance in purchase intentions for online platform-based free tours.