Sustainable tourism development pertains to all forms of development and management of tourist activities that respect the environment, protect for a long-term the natural and cultural resources, and are socially and economically acceptable and equitable. Due to the growing interest of tourists to spend their vacation unconventional, dynamic and exciting, sports tourism is experiencing its expansion. There is an increasing role of sport and tourism in the global economy related to economic and social contributions as well as its potential for growth. With its advantageous location and natural attractions, Croatia has always been an important tourist destination. Like in several other Mediterranean destinations, Croatian tourism is focused on "sun and sea", geographically concentrated along the coast, which generates congestion costs and feeds regional imbalances. The development of various types of special interest tourism such as sports tourism is seen as a possible solution to this problem, especially because sport plays a very important role at various levels in the Croatian society. Sports tourism is becoming increasingly important in Croatia to sustain opportunities in the months that lack sea and sun tourists, it is contributes to overall attractiveness, quality and competitiveness of tourism, and generates additional value in tourism, manifested through direct and indirect economic effects. In creating the identity of the renowned tourist destination, Croatia must define new sustainable developing concepts in order to achieve the improvement of its tourist produce and make it recognizable in the world tourist market. Depending on the type of resources in a particular region, with further development of sports tourism, Croatia could come closer to the realization of its long-term goals – reducing seasonality, increasing revenue and diversification of the offer, without negative effects and pressures of an increase in demand during the summer months. New trends in the offer of European markets must be embraced because only by creating an original offer can an advantage be gained over the competition. Given its large natural resources, the tradition of developing different sport activities and an already established image as a country of sports, Croatia can expect significant development of tourism products based on sports and recreation activities.