Description:
Introduction - Visiting friends and relatives (VFR) travel has been highlighted through previous research and through a number of the preceding chapters as being historically ignored and underestimated by both researchers and tourism marketing practitioners. As noted in Chapter 5, scholarly interest into VFR really only commenced in 1990, and for the next two decades only 39 tourism journal articles dedicated to VFR were published (Griffin, 2013). Due to definitional issues, the scale of VFR travel both in terms of the number of trips and their value remains unclear. The value of the segment is consistently raised in the literature (Backer, 2007, 2010a, 2011, 2012; Braunlich & Nadkarni, 1994, 1995; Morrison et al., 1995; Seaton, 1994; Seaton & Palmer, 1997; Seaton & Tagg, 1995; Yaman, 1996). Given the size and potential impact of the VFR market, it is surprising that the quanitity of VFR research is so limited. However, a new wave of academic research which seeks to better understand the full economic, social and political impact of VFR travel may be encouraging an awakening in industry circles, resulting in the development of more specific and targeted VFR campaigns. This chapter outlines seven case studies - from Australia, Scotland, Ireland and Wales - and discussed the rationale for such campaigns. The conclusions outline the common themes and issues from the case studies, and in particular highlight the need for the campaigns to provide clearer evidence of the economic, social as well as political benefits from VFR travel.