This thesis analyzes European funds and their purpose in order to foster the development of tourism. The main goal of this study is to identify which are those EU funds, measures and priorities within them and to determine their importance in the tourism development of Varaţdin County. The theoretical part of this study presents findings based on secondary data sources, i.e. professional literature based on books, scientific articles and Internet sources, while the empirical part of the study presents conclusions based on in-depth interviews with key representatives of public and private sector, who are also EU fund users. The in-depth interview was conducted through semi-structured survey questionnaires composed of two sets of questions. The first group of questions was the same for all respondents, and related to the collection of general data of respondents. The second part of the questionnaire was problem-oriented, and the questions differed depending on the sector which the respondents represented. Representatives of the public sector answered questions in order to get an impression of the use of funds throughout the county, while the questions for the representatives of the private sector were focused on their personal experience gained through the use of EU funds. Based on the theoretical and empirical analysis, this study disclose/presents conclusions and recommendations for future actions regarding the use of EU funds with the intention of encouraging tourism development, especially in Varaţdin County.