111 CRITERIA FOR SETTING UP THE PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP IN CROATIAN TOURISM AND SELECTION OF OPTIMAL PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP MODEL 1 Marko Perić 2 UDK/UDC: 338.48:334.722(497.5) JEL classifcation / JEL klasifkacija: L 83 Review / Pregledni rad Received / Primljeno: October 17, 2009 / 17. listopada 2009. Accepted for publishing / Prihvaćeno za tisak: December 18, 2009/18. prosinca 2009. Summary Strong expansion of public-private partnership (PPP) in the last two decades in the world has not bypassed tourism where many forms of partnership and numerous fnished projects can be identifed. However, despite the fact that tourism is recognized as a powerful generator of economic activity, Croatia does not have extensive experience with public-pri- vate partnerships in tourism. Tat does not mean that partnerships should be formed rashly. Instead, only partnerships that adhere to the strictly defned criteria of both sectors should be set up. Te aim of this paper is to analyse legal framework and to identify major public and private sector criteria for implementing PPPs in Croatian tourism. Te research has shown that according to identifed criteria, BOT model is optimal PPP and some recommendations to accelerate the implementation of that model were proposed. Key words: public-private partnership (PPP), criteria, Croatia, tourism. 1. INTRODUCTION Although the beginnings of cooperation between public and private sector back into the distant past, and the partnership in the development of infrastructure projects has a long, almost a century-old tradition, the cooperation between the public and the private sector 1 Tis article was written as part of the scientifc project »Quality Models and Public-Private Partnerships in Croatian Tourism« (project no. 116/1162459-2456), conducted with the support of the Ministry of Science, Education and Sport of the Republic of Croatia. 2 Marko Perić, Ph.D., Assistant, University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Opati- ja, E-mail: markop@fhm.hr