ABSTRACT
Previous research into the international holiday industry (Dale, 2000; Evans and Stabler, 1995) and contemporary industry reports (Deloitte, 2004) reflect that the typical mass-market strategy of conventional tour operators is being challenged by a growing trend toward individualized holidays. For tourism firms operating in today's dynamic environment, strategic management becomes a balancing act between offering personalized service and generating sales volume as well as developing packages that are economically viable for today's travelers while meeting their rising quality expectations. For those tourism firms operating globally, this task is challenged further by host country conditions that often differ considerably and thus threaten international product consistency and standardization.
