In recent decades, tourism has evolved more and more, and modern tourists and their needs are becoming increasingly difficult to meet. As tourists make more and more requests, the question is how to attract tourists with existing tourism resources and offer improvements. Among the specific forms of tourism, rural tourism has recently become more and more prominent. Specifically, due to major lifestyle changes, an aging population, and increasingly stressful and accelerated lifestyles, individuals often travel to rural areas for relaxation and pleasure. Istria represents the territory of the Republic of Croatia in an area that has previously been recognized by the importance and role of rural tourism in the overall tourism and economic development of the Istrian region, as well as the Republic of Croatia. Istria has many natural and anthropogenic features important for rural development, and is leading the way in other areas of the Republic of Croatia, with rural tourism rising to a whole new level and developing it more and more in the direction of elite tourism. The aim of the paper is to point out the share and importance of rural tourism development in the overall tourism development of Istria and the Republic of Croatia and to emphasize the need to encourage the development of this specific form of tourism in the future and in other parts of the Republic of Croatia modeled after Istria.