In Istria, there has been a change in the fact that from overcrowded hotel beaches and coastal destinations in general, tourists have been finding peace in the interior of the peninsula for several years now - no less or more than in modernly equipped private holiday homes. For this reason, a primary empirical study was conducted on the reasons for the increasing interest in the opening of this type of accommodation facilities in the central Istria area, the degree of business satisfaction, and the various views and opinions on this phenomenon by holiday house renters, public tourist bodies, various other stakeholders in tourism and locals. In order to better understand the essence of the topic and the breadth of the phenomenon called tourism, before the research itself, the paper defines tourism in the economic system, tourist destination, tourist infrastructure and how the statutory acts define a holiday home. This is followed by a detailed insight into the tourist attraction base of the selected research area - the area covered by the Central Istria Tourist Board. This part of the paper analyzes its geo-traffic position, natural and cultural-historical attractions, and collected secondary data on the number of tourist arrivals, overnight stays and guest structure over the last 12 years. The following are the results of a primary empirical study conducted on a total of 12 respondents in the form of semi-structured interviews, whose answers for the purposes of analysis are formulated meaningfully in the form of a discussion. The chapter on the perspective of holiday homes in the development of a tourist destination relies on previously analyzed secondary and primary data and states that a destination can be developed on the basis of holiday homes as the main form of accommodation, but also requires systematic work and synergy of other tourism stakeholders who they must refine their offer with additional amenities. In conclusion, it is stated that holiday homes in central Istria play a very large role and influence on the development of tourism in the area, because they are its very basis and with it they attract and form other forms of additional tourist offer in the surrounding area, which ultimately creates benefits and develops the entire local community of this continental area off the coast.