Tourism in a broader sense has existed since the begining of human civilization. In a narrower sense, tourism has gradually developed throughout history. Nowadays, there are various definitions and types of tourism. One of the most accepted definitions is that a tourist is any person who travels outside the place of permanent residence to a tourist destination in order to participate in tourist activities, but without performing economic activity. There are also various branches of tourism such as: agritourism, nautical tourism, religious tourism, sports and adventure tourism as well as many others. Sports tourism is one of the branches of tourism that has been growing rapidly in the last few decades. Within sports tourism there are several subtypes: tourism of sports events, active sports tourism, passive sports tourism, nostalgic sports tourism. Each of these subspecies has its own specifics as well as a wide range of possibilities for further development. Some predictions say that through the next century, tourism worldwide will be the main branch of the economy, so sports tourism as a large part of tourism will have a great global impact. In Croatia, in addition to having natural and geological predispositions for the development of existing sports infrastructure, there are many untapped opportunities. According to the strategy of further development and investment, it is predicted that sports tourism in Croatia will also play a significant role in the future.