According to IATA, passengers may enter Croatia for tourism even if they're not EU nationals (presuming I'm reading the rules correctly):
passengers traveling as tourists with a confirmation of accommodation booking;
And likewise according to the same source many Schengen countries admit passengers arriving directly from Croatia, such as Slovakia:
This does not apply to passengers arriving from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, China (People's Rep.), Chinese Taipei, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong (SAR China), Hungary, Iceland, Ireland (Rep.), Italy, Japan, Korea (Rep.), Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Macao (SAR China), Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland or the United Kingdom
Does this mean that, say, a US citizen without a long-term Schengen visa can fly into Croatia and then fly into the Schengen area?