Development Strategy of the St. Jerome Winery

This paper analyzes and proposes a development strategy for St. Jerome Winery as an example of successfully integrating wine tourism, tradition, and sustainable development, with the aim of assessing the current tourism offer, identifying key strengths and weaknesses, and defining strategic guidelines for improvement based on a SWOT analysis and secondary data sources. The results indicate that Međimurje has strong potential for the development of eno-gastro and rural tourism due to its natural landscape, high-quality wines, cultural heritage, and local hospitality, while the main challenges include insufficient destination branding, limited transport connectivity, and low national and international recognition. The proposed measures emphasize the development of an integrated tourist offer and stronger cooperation among local stakeholders, including diversification of tourism products through partnerships with tourism actors, improvement of tasting areas, interactive tastings, organized harvests, thematic events, and the introduction of a wine fountain. The importance of public–private cooperation, staff education, and involvement of the local community is highlighted, concluding that St. Jerome Winery can play a key role in positioning Međimurje as a sustainable and competitive wine destination in continental Croatia.