After first analysing the internationalization process of firms in the tourism sector and proposing that the internationalization process is usually sequential for most small and medium tourism firms, this chapter identifies the factors determining the export activity, with special emphasis on internal factors, particularly the demographic characteristics of the decision makers. The chapter then examines the key strategic aspects in internal and external analyses and their importance to internationalization.

KEYWORDS: organisational factors, managerial hospitality configurations, Canary Islands, strategic analysis. hotel ooputetlons. at University of York on June 5, 2016 thr.sagepub.com Downloaded fromwith the purpose of studying the distinctive organisational populations, with their own contextual and structural answers.