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This dissertation aspires to examine the refugee crisis and how its various manifestations had an impact on tourism on the island of Lesvos. We aim to make a clear and tangible proposition in order to restore tourism growth beyond this turning point. It consists of three major subject areas: the refugee crisis at the Aegean front, tourism and communication/ crisis management and communication in tourism. Their common denominator is their geographic focus on the island of Lesvos. Thus, we conducted a qualitative research using interviews and focus groups with purposeful sampling and a sample of 13 specialists on the aforementioned major subject areas. Our analysis showed that despite some efforts there was no crisis management whatsoever, and, as a result, there was no crisis communication. No certain strategy was implemented and the island’s DMO was not just inactive, but present in name only. There are stagnant issues and constant problems which were aggravated by the refugee crisis and are maintained by the conflicting local and regional interests. Finally, we proposed the implementation of the smart tourism model (Avdimiotis, 2016) on the island of Lesvos, according to the existing implemented model of Chalikidiki.