Browsing by Subject "kansainvälistäminen"

Aim of this thesis is to find out about internationalising service companies and possible new market entry modes. This is a case study for UK based Turquoise Holiday Company, which is a luxury tour operator. Research problem is to find out if the case company has prerequisites for internationalising to Finnish, Swedish, and /or Norwegian markets. Internal, external and strategic factors are taken into consideration. Introduction defines service and clarifies the difference from manufactured product. Theory chapter presents different foreign market entry modes and internationalising strategies for service companies. Also internal, external and strategic factors affecting internationalisation are presented, and they are base for theoretical framework. This study is a qualitative case study. Evaluation is based on publicly available information both externally from the market and internally from the case company. Thesis shows that many things are to be taken into consideration when a service company is thinking about international expansion. Travel industry in general is growing constantly but also going through changes that might change the business significantly. At the moment financial resources and language skills of the personnel of the case company are the internal factors that are limiting internationalising. Scandinavian countries are relatively wealthy though, which is encouraging external factor. Although Finland, Sweden and Norway are doing quite well in economic circumstances in Europe the markets are small in size compared to the UK. The most interesting internationalisation target could be Norway due to its high level of economy. Population of the country is not very big but also competition seems to be low. As this study does not include any practical market research it is suggested to conduct one if the company is willing to deepen its knowledge of consumer attitudes and market potential of the countries. Also the Turquoise Holiday Company should find out its possibilities of financial resources and educating personnel for foreign markets.