Identify how the family business’ governance structure affects management capabilities is critical in strategic management research. This paper, using an approach based on RBV and agency theory, tries to find relevant elements in their development and shows how these are affected by succession planning as well as the separation of ownership and control. Using primary data from 541 family businesses in the tourism sector, our results reinforce the role of the formation of the head of the organization and its enterprise-level planning in the development of management capabilities. Furthermore, shows results about the mediation role of succession planning and managerial discretion.