There is a growing awareness in Istria that one of the ways to survive in a globalized world is to market the domestic tourism product on the international tourist market. The forms of special-interest tourism provided by the Istrian destination play a vital role in that process. From these facts follows the research subject of this dissertation, which is to examine the existing and new forms of the special-interest tourism offering in Mediterranean countries, identify their effect on the tourism product of Istria, and find an appropriate model for developing and implementing the existing and new special-interest tourism offerings of the Istrian destination. The purpose of the dissertation is to point out the similarities and differences in the offerings of special-interest tourism forms in Europe’s Mediterranean countries (Turkey, Greece, Italy, France, Spain and Portugal) and in Istria, suggest ways of overcoming the weaknesses of Istria’s special-interest tourism offering, and underline the need of developing existing and new forms of special-interest tourism within the Istrian destination through the formation of an efficient organizational model capable of ensuring such development. By introducing well-thought out ways of correcting weaknesses in Istria’s tourism product, it would be possible to further improve Istria’s overall special-interest tourism offering in terms of its appeal and distinctiveness on the international tourist market. The development and implementation of the proposed new forms of special-interest tourism would help to substantially enrich and enhance the tourism product of the Istrian destination, thus further diversifying Istria’s special-interest tourism offering, enhancing the appeal of the Istrian product on tourist markets, and mobilizing poorly tapped or untapped tourism potential. To make this happen, it would be necessary to establish an Istrian consortium for tourism product promotion, marketing and development, which would represent a sort of destination management organization (DMO) bringing together all stakeholders (private, public and others) of Istria’s tourism system. The activities of the Istrian consortium would necessarily focus on developing new forms of the tourism offering, profiling Istria as a top Mediterranean and European tourist destination, and creating a distinctive regional and local image, while seeking to protect the natural environment and preserve the region’s cultural and historical heritage. This new organizational model should be capable of ensuring long-term solutions for new projects concerning special-interest tourism offerings that would help to enhance the quality of the overall Istrian tourism product and improve its services and facilities. The Istrian consortium would also need to adopt the concept of strategic destination management, which involves defining the tourism product and highlighting those of its features that make Istria different from, or adequately competitive relative to, other Mediterranean destinations.