Abstract: Urban tourism is an important part of contemporary tourism. However, different cities have different models for tourism development. As a highly complex system, tourism can’t achieve sustainable development without the social, economic and cultural setting of the city. This paper argues that the motivational mechanism of sustainable urban tourism should rely on the analysis of different elements related to it, in order to find the major and secondary elements for urban tourism. Business tourism is the main target market of cities with a focus on economic development. Shantou City is not a traditional destination with tourist resources. Its tourism should follow the model of commercial urban tourism leading to regional tourism development. Therefore, the sustainable development of the city should come before sustainable tourism.