The aim of the research is to determine the level of interest in visits to virtual museums, the reasons for visiting such museums, to compare them to traditional museums and to explore tourism potential. An attempt was also made to explore in what way virtual exhibitions should be structured and what they should offer, as well as what would be the price of entrance tickets. The purpose of this research is to actually compare physical and virtual visits to museums and to try to establish whether virtual visits could in some way replace physical visits or whether they are considered as a mere supplement and an additional offer content. The results were processed using scientific methodology including statistical indicators and qualitative methods of descriptive analysis, systematisation, generalisation, metasearch and creative thinking techniques. The knowledge generated by the research results points out that virtual museums have not been sufficiently recognised or valorised by Croatian visitors and potential tourists. Namely, many respondents believe that the intention of creating virtual museums is a replacement for a physical experience and that their success fails. This represents a platform for the development of education and strategic marketing of cultural institutions and points to the need for future research.