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.
Description:
The Family Life Cycle (FLC) model is frequently used for understanding travel patterns and consumer behaviour. The aim of this research was to consider the relationship between FLC stages and travel engagement in Australia. Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFRs) and non-VFRs (n = 102 029) were found to be significantly different in their FLC composition. In addition, the prevalence of FLC stages changed between the groups, with families comprising 27.5% of domestic VFRs yet comprising 37.9% of domestic non-VFRs. This study has provided a valuable assessment of the relationship between FLC stages and domestic travel in Australia and is the first paper to integrate two common approaches used in tourism for market segmentation.