Tourism industry is an important factor in the economic development of every country and it is evolving globally at a rapid pace. This paper identifies dynamic changes in tourism industry and the requirements that arise from those changes. Main focus of the paper is Croatian tourism as the most important economic activity with high share in country’s GDP. The accelerated growth of competition in the tourism market has imposed the need for additional investments in improving the quality of existing content and investments in new ones. Therefore, this paper focuses on investments as a driving force of growth and development, presenting their characteristics and role in the elimination of shortcomings observed in the field of tourism industry. The banking sector, as a part of the financial system, is a key external source of financing for investment in development of business activities and as such is a link between the two previously mentioned key topics - growth and development of tourism industry and investment. Therefore, the paper describes main features of the financial system as the financial environment of economic entities and the role of the bank as a depository and loan institution. Since loan is the most common source of financing, the paper describes it as the most important product and financial instrument of the bank. Additionally, possibilities and options for financing tourism industry offered by Croatian banking sector are presented.