Hosting friends versus hosting relatives : Is blood thicker than water?
- Authors: Yousuf, Mohammad , Backer, Elisa
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Tourism Research Vol. 19, no. 4 (2017), p. 435-446
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Little research has been undertaken to examine visiting friends and relatives (VFR) travel from the perspective of hosts. Additionally, little research has explored the differences between VFs and VRs, treating VFR as one homogenous group. This research examined the hosts' perspective of hosting friends versus relatives through in-depth interviews with 34 local residents in three contrasting destinations in Australia. Key differences were found between the experiences of hosting friends versus relatives, with immigration a key aspect in impacting the outcome. This is the first study to examine hosting friends versus relatives and to consider how immigration and destination impact VFR travel experiences for hosts.
Visiting friends or relatives?
- Authors: Backer, Elisa , Leisch, Friedrich , Dolnicar, Sara
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Tourism Management Vol. 60, no. (2017), p. 56-64
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Visiting friends and relatives (VFR) contributes significantly to tourism activity and revenues, accounting for about 48 percent of domestic travel in Australia. Implicit in most discussions of VFR travel is that it represents one homogeneous market. This paper examines this assumption and demonstrates – based on data from 67,024 domestic and international tourists to Australia – that this is not the case. The profile of people visiting friends (VFs) differs significantly from that of people visiting relatives (VRs). This finding has major implications for tourism marketing which need to target VFs or VRs in distinctly different ways, rather than generically marketing to VFR travellers. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd