Ecotourism is a tourism, where emphasis is placed on the sojourn of tourists in a natural and unpolluted environment, especially in areas with a certain degree of protection of that environment such as national parks and other protected areas. The development of eco-tourism in Croatia is related exclusively to rural areas and protected areas of nature and is based on the use of natural beauty, but in a way not to disturb the natural harmony. Croatia, considering its total area, stands out with the very large number of tourist attractive protected natural areas, and to biodiversity it’s in the very European top. Although Croatia does not yet have a remarkable level of development of eco-tourism, it has a great potentials for it’s development, potencials which are necessary to be adequately evaluated and protected in accordance with the concept of sustainable development. Ecotourism can be developed within national parks and other protected areas, but also on family farms that operate on the principles of organic farming. The fundamental purpose of this paper is to show the role and importance of eco-tourism in the Croatian tourism. The paper presents an analysis of selected parks in Croatia, and guidelines for the future development of eco-tourism in Croatia.