Tourism is a global, rapidly growing phenomenon towards ever-increasing development. As a result, tourist trips are becoming more and more frequent and are increasingly being viewed as part of social and economic life. Increasing demand for forms of tourism that will satisfy the specific wishes of tourists leads to the development of new tourist products, services and forms of carrying out tourist activities. One of the forms of tourism that is becoming increasingly attractive and popular among modern tourists is sports-recreational tourism. It is only one of the selective forms of tourism that strive to satisfy the specific wishes and needs of today's tourists, who are increasingly encouraged by sports, recreation and a healthy lifestyle. The county of Istria is rich in natural and anthropogenic attractions, which are actually the primary motive for the visit of a large number of tourists in Istria. However, with the increasingly strong development of sports-recreational tourism, as well as the associated sports infrastructure, appropriate signage and adequate marketing management, there is an increasing demand for this form of tourism in Istria. The work analyzed most of the sports and recreation infrastructure and the entire sports offer in Istria, and through several selected types of sports and recreation activities, it was shown to what extent and in what way the Istrian County is developing its sports and recreation tourism. The work confirmed the initial hypotheses that sports-recreational tourism in Istria enables the extension of the tourist season, i.e. creates an opportunity for the development of year-round tourism, then improves the overall image of the destination, and other positive social and economic impacts are also realized.