90 Copyright © 2020, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. Chapter 4 DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-1655-3.ch004 INTRODUCTION In recent decades, there has been unprecedented growth in world tourism demand, fuelled by the popula- tion explosion and the rise in global income (Pedreño & Ramón, 2009). In Spain, tourism is one of the main drivers of growth in the economy, and it is a key sector in terms of its contribution to GDP and employment (Vera & Marchena, 1996; Larrinaga & Vallejo, 2013; Cuadrado Roura & López Morales; 2015). Certain characteristics of many tourist activities facilitate the entry and growth of family firms in this sector. As such, the tourism sector in Spain has traditionally been dominated by this type of com- pany (Camisón, Forés & Puig-Denia, 2016). This sector offers a wide range of opportunities for family firms; the small size of various tourism businesses (cafés, bars, restaurants, etc.) along with the link between tourism and certain preferences in terms of leisure, lifestyle or location (Ateljevic & Doorne, César Camisón University of Valencia, Spain Alba Puig-Denia Jaume I University, Spain The Accumulation of Distinctive Competences in Family Firms ABSTRACT Taking as its basis the resource- and capability-based view of the frm, this study provides an in-depth exploration of the ability of the family tourism frm to accumulate and develop the distinctive competences that are key to its success. Specifcally, the analysis centres on how the family tourism frm acquires distinctive competences through the development of managerial capabilities. Using structural equation modelling (SEM), the empirical analysis focuses on a sample of 1,019 Spanish tourism frms. The results of the study suggest that family businesses face certain problems in accumulating distinctive compe- tences. Moreover, the study indicates that such problems are due in part to the difculties of developing efcient managerial capabilities in this type of company, which is an obstacle to the accumulation and management of other distinctive competences.