Tourism in the world has suffered a heavy blow. Border closures, travel restrictions and quarantines have resulted in a dramatic drop in international travel. Many countries have restricted the arrival of foreign tourists to curb the spread of the virus, which has led to a serious economic loss for tourist destinations around the world, including those in the rural tourism segment. The subject of research in this paper refers to rural tourism due to the COVID-19 crisis. At the same time, the purpose of the final paper refers to the identification of the success of rural tourism in the pre-crisis and crisis period. In accordance with the above, the main goal of the final paper is to analyze the impact of the COVID 19 crisis on rural tourism in the Republic of Croatia, and in order to achieve the stated goal, it is necessary to achieve its sub-goals. The sub-objectives of the work referred to the analysis of the impact on world and Croatian tourism, as well as rural tourism in the Republic of Croatia. In order to achieve this goal, an in-depth interview was conducted with 11 rural tourism stakeholders, where it was intended to find out how the crisis affected their business. The final paper provides a theoretical definition of tourism and rural tourism, highlighting their importance as an economic sector and key activities around the world. The paper analyzes the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on Croatian and world tourism, highlighting the dramatic decline in international travel and the impact of tourism as a key source of income in Croatia. Research conducted with rural tourism stakeholders in the Split-Dalmatia County reveals business adaptation and positive trends in the recovery of rural tourism after the pandemic.