Ecotourism as a special interest tourism form which includes travel related to protected natural values and is in closely related to sustainable development. Protected areas are the most attractive tourist destinations, and ecotourism in protected areas largely depends on quality management. Excessive tourism trends in protected areas disrupt biodiversity, so the key premise of protected area management is the interaction of nature and tourism. The subject of this paper is ecotourism, and the aim is to explore the management of ecotourism development with special reference to the Plitvice Lakes National Park. Plitvice Lakes is the oldest and most visited national park in the Republic of Croatia, which was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979 due to its exceptional beauty and natural value. This area is a natural phenomenon whose survival and quality management depends on the interaction of man and nature. The paper aims to point out the importance of ecotourism, environmental protection and efficient management of the protected area, all with the aim of minimizing the negative and maximizing the positive economic and social effects of ecotourism. The paper aims to point out the problem of sustainability of the existing management system, which primarily refers to the excessive and uncontrolled number of visitors in the protected area, but also to analyze the implementation of the new management system by introducing more sophisticated visitor management technology, which will positively affect the environmental sustainability and satisfaction of visitors and employees. Furthermore, the paper seeks to emphasize the importance of sustainable development as an important concept aimed at meeting the needs of present and future generations. For the purposes of the paper, the methods of analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction and description methods were used, and an in-depth interview was conducted with the staff of the Plitvice Lakes National Park Public Institution.