The holiday property market has seen a genuine boom in the last years with second homes being an integral part of today’s tourism and an important pillar in the accommodation sector. Today second homes are seen as an enabler for destination development and repositioning, yet also show serious concerns with regard to the consequences they might have in terms of sustainability. Therefore, literature is often discussing if second homes are curse or blessing for tourism destinations. The paper reports a case study on the socio-economic and environmental impacts of second homes in the destination of Kitzbühel, Austria. The author made use of a standardized online questionnaire and found out that second homes in general are estimated to obtain the least important impact on Kitzbühel, while sustainable development is regarded to be of utmost importance. Results show how service providers of Kitzbühel cope with the growing challenge of second home properties within their destination.