The methodological framework of the research on trends, success factors and benchmarking of the Danube river cruise tourism product included the following: (1) the analysis of secondary data sources, (2) primary research through the in-depth interviews with the main stakeholders of the Danube river cruise tourism product in Croatia and Serbia (a total of eight interviews ), (3) the observation of ports and port operations regarding river cruise ships and passengers on the international river cruises in Vukovar, Novi Sad and Belgrade, (4) SWOT analysis of the Croatian Danube ports with respect to the river cruise product, and (5) benchmark analysis of the Port of Vukovar in relation to the international passenger ports of Novi Sad and Belgrade. Among the secondary data analysis an analysis of itineraries and river cruises offered on Danube River in 2014 was conducted. Analyzed were 2,307 river cruises on 181 Danube itinerary available on internet by December 1st 2013. The analysis of trends in the international river cruises indicates that the river cruise tourism product is growing almost everywhere in the world. Demand for river cruises is growing by double digits, but at the same time is diversifying. That, consequently, causes the specialization of river cruise ships and targeting the new market niches. The river cruise offer is also growing with the introduction of new itineraries and destinations, as well as with the construction of new river cruise ships or reconstruction of the existing ones. Croatia, the undiscovered tourist destination when it comes to its continental part, but also one of the 10 most popular countries in the world for river cruises, provides great opportunities to meet the demand of modern trends in river cruises. The SWOT analysis of current Danube river cruise tourism product in Croatia indicates that all weaknesses are relatively easily manageable mostly by better cooperation among all stakeholders around a common development scenario and strategy, which is still lacking today. The opportunities for further development of river cruise tourism product in Croatia are great. They are primarily based on the following: (1) the estimates that the transport capacity of the Danube River is not a limitation for this type of tourism development in Croatia today because the capacity of the waterway in river cruises are not nearly reached yet, (2) the forecasts of growth, both in number of river cruise ships and passengers in the Croatian Danube ports that are based on the observed growth and trends in river cruise market demand, but also on the existing potential in the current distribution of river cruise itineraries on the Danube river (i.e. 66% of all itineraries on Danube river begins and ends upstream of the Croatia, while among all Danube river cruises passing along the Croatian coast, somewhat less than half are visiting Croatian ports on the Danube river), and (3) rich tourist attraction base of the region, which can offer a number of very attractive tourism products that fit into the identified trends of current tourism demand.