With this thesis, Achieving a sustainable competitive advantage through a differentiation strategy on the example of the development of Istria as a region of culture and enogastronomy, foremost a theoretical insight is given from the areas of culture and cultural inheritance, and how the former and latter influence the development of identity and authenticity of the region, and its population. The thesis also deals with the possible negative consequences and commodification of cultural inheritance for the purpose of commercialization and profit. It will be shown how the historical and political circumstances, but also the geographical locality of the region, influenced the progress of culture and gastronomic customs of the populace, which became the major foundation for development of selective tourism in Istria, and the disassociation from a mass tourism approach of sun and sea. Discerning that the prospects they possess are not realized to their full capacity, they take a clear and decisive course of long term, sustainable growth, which is founded on developing the destination as a region of culture and enogastronomy, whilst simultaneously achieving one of the primary goals - increasing the span of the tourist season to all year round. Through a theoretical outlook, but also through examples of the types of strategies of differentiation, it will be shown how the above mentioned are paramount and crucial in the goal to distinguish, a product or service, from a multitude of identical or similar ones, to create in the mind of the consumer a feeling that they have experienced and bought something unique and incomparable - giving the product additional value. The second part of the thesis presents the results of the research, and their interpretation.