Theoretical part of this work will be about rural tourism and its sub-categories which are the most interesting among tourists and what part of continental Croatia has the most potential. As the world evolves, evolves and expands the offer. Tourists do not travel only for the journey but they travel with a motive. They have desire to try something new, get the know the culture, history and the way locals live, try out something that friends or family suggested, be in popular destinations where their peers travel, etc. All of these factors affect our decision when we choose a destination. This work is about key elements of rural tourism development. In this paper are listed destinations and types of tourism that exist in this area but also have space for improvement and further development. Goal is to extend the season and not only focus on coast part of Croatia, following the example of our neighbouring countries. The final goal of the research in this work is to examine the behaviour and opinion that participants have about Croatian tourism, what are their preferences when it comes to choosing a destination, on what basis, how much are they familiar with rural tourism offer and do they think that further development is crucial for rural tourism improvement. The research was conducted through a questionnaire on 203 respondents on territory of Republic of Croatia.