Tom Griffin

Research Note: A Content Analysis of Articles on Visiting Friends and Relatives Tourism, 1990–2010

The desire to visit friends and relatives (VFR) is a substantial influencer over a large proportion of all tourism trips worldwide. Despite this generally accepted notion, it is a relatively recent subject in tourism literature receiving comparatively little attention from tourism academics. This article offers a content analysis of journal articles retrieved using Google Scholar on VFR tourism covering a 21-year period. Articles were categorized by theoretical approach, author origin, geographical focus, and specific topics of interest. Key findings show that VFR is receiving an increasing amount of attention, from a growing variety of scholars applying more varied approaches. Earlier articles generally focused on volumetric, economic, and marketing issues, with a more recent growth of interest in the social and community aspects of VFR tourism. Considerations for future research are discussed and comparisons with other subject matters presented.

A paradigmatic discussion for the study of immigrant hosts

Personal relationships play a substantial part of many tourism trips, commonly referred to as visiting friends and relatives (VFR) tourism, yet despite the high volume of VFR, it is a relatively under-researched subject, receiving little attention from tourism practitioners. Immigration and VFR travel patterns are linked, and the study of immigrants who host VFR has implications for integration, community development, and destination marketing. This paper offers a discussion on the paradigmatic considerations of approaching research on this topic, drawing from literature on VFR, immigrant integration and leisure. The paper ultimately proposes that a constructionist approach would be most beneficial at this point of the topic development because of the unknown and highly contextual nature of the experience.

Immigrant hosts and intra-regional travel

ABSTRACT A large number of tourism-related experiences involve a personal relationship between a visitor and resident host. As immigration continues to be an increasingly integral experience for many people and communities, and advances in technology make relationship maintenance more accessible, the traditional distinctions of travel types based on ‘pleasure’, ‘visiting friends and relatives’ (VFR), and even ‘business’ become blurred and detrimental to conceptual understandings for large numbers of tourism experiences and their impacts. The purpose is to explore the experiences of immigrants with intra-regional travel when they host VFRs. Constructionism was used as a guiding epistemology in this narrative analysis. The research co-constructed narratives with nine participants in Toronto, Canada about their hosting and intra-regional travel. The hosting experience is powerful, linking old and new worlds, and challenging traditional discursive tourism binaries such as home and away. The experience of intra-regional communities through side-trips with VFR guests added additional context where the host was in a non-routine place on vacation, with a guest who brings expectations of participating in leisure, but in a place that has cultural links to the participants ongoing integration and connection to the broader sense of Canadian culture. Hosting both inspired intra-regional travel, and enhanced the memorable co-construction of meaning associated with the experience as links and distinctions to the culture of origin were more easily made due to the co-presence of their guest. Implications for integration, place making and marketing are discussed.

Visiting friends and relatives tourism and implications for community capital

Visiting friends and relatives (VFR) tourism accounts for a substantial amount of worldwide travel, yet has received comparatively little attention regarding its impacts on sustainability. This paper provides an initial discussion that situates VFR tourism within a discussion on sustainable tourism development. The community capitals framework is used as a basis for the discussion. A review of academic literature on VFR and sustainable tourism provides the foundations for this paper. Due to the personal relationships inherent in VFR there are significant consequences regarding the social impacts of VFR tourism. Additionally, the economic implications of VFR tourism include a more stable demand, greater dispersal of spending, and engagement of residents as consumers. The ability of communities to absorb VFR tourism relative to other forms of tourism has positive indications for the cultural and environmental aspects of community development. As debates within the more recent literature consider the opportunities and possibilities for mass tourism to become more sustainable, this paper suggests that VFR could reasonably be considered a sustainable form of tourism and offers destinations a viable strategy for sustainable tourism development.

Gap Year Volunteer Tourism Stories: Sharing More Than Memories

Volunteer tourism has received increased attention from academics in recent years, mirroring the growth in providers and participation. Volunteer tourism is often considered to be a more sustainable and authentic experience for the visitor, as well as providing benefits for the host community. This article builds on more recent critical research that considers the historical and cultural context that saw volunteer tourism reach the level of popularity it has today. The gap year, as a subset of volunteer tourism, is analyzed specifically given its unique context and participant demographic. Interviews with returned gap year volunteer tourists from the UK are analyzed, with stories shared demonstrating acceptance, adaptation and rejection of broader societal narratives regarding international development, colonialism, and personal growth. Implications for marketers revolve around the encouragement of reflection for participants on the phenomenon and their own personal experience to enhance understanding and satisfaction.

Paid accommodation use of international VFR multi-destination travellers

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the use of paid accommodation by international visitors who also stay with a friend or relative in another destination. Design/methodology/approach This paper conducts analysis of secondary data to look at the proportion of person nights in paid accommodation attributable to visitors who also stay with a friend or relative in another destination, and comparison of different visitor groups and their likelihood to use paid accommodation. Findings Results show that 14.5 per cent of all person nights spent by international visitors to Canada in paid accommodations were attributable to people who also stayed with a friend or relative in another destination. This proportion is higher for destinations outside of the largest cities and varies by source market. Research limitations/implications This paper is limited the structure of the secondary data set, which does not separate visiting friends from visiting relatives, and does not capture host behaviour. Practical implications This paper has implications for destination marketers and tourism businesses as a source for reflection on drivers of their local and international business. Social implications This paper helps position residents in a more central role regarding tourism in their regions and should encourage marketers and service providers to appreciate and engage residents as hosts. Originality/value This paper offers an original position by combining concepts from visiting friends and relatives and multi-destination travel that provides a foundation for further research in this area.

A discussion of video as a data collection tool

ABSTRACT This paper considers the use of video as a tool for data collection in tourism research. Initially, the paper offers a review of video as a data collection tool as well as studies in tourism and the broader social sciences that have used video in data collection. A typology of usage is provided that delineates whether the video is created internally or externally to the projects, created with participants or recordings of them, created to be shared publicly or privately, recordings of natural or staged events, and finally used as a tool of elicitation or as data. Subsequent discussion focusses on a description and reflection on one specific study that used video as a tool of data collection as well as elicitation to co-construct narratives of participants. The aim of this paper is to provide a basis for other researchers considering the use of video in data collection.

Urban tourism: the growing role of VFR and immigration

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to offer some insights into the future of urban tourism with particular consideration given to immigration and visiting friends and relatives (VFR) travel. The discussion highlights the fact that cities are increasingly home to immigrants and transitory residents who host visitors, blurring resident-visitor distinctions, with implications for cultural and economic development, and tourism practitioners. These trends are highlighted, and discussions relating to the future are offered. Design/methodology/approach This discussion is based on a literature review and a conceptual approach. Findings The number of immigrants to cities keeps growing. These immigrants are shaping their new communities and changing local culture. They contribute to increased tourism through generating VFR travel and creating new tourist attractions. Research limitations/implications The implications of VFR and immigration on urban tourism are most visible in large urban centers that are major points of entry into a country and international magnets. They are not, however, limited to big cities. Practical implications There are potential implications for municipal governments and destination marketers to consider how cultural development and the touristic promotion of the city overlap with areas and direction for possible partnerships with community groups. Social implications This paper promotes the idea that for immigrants, to experience their communities through hosting VFR has positive social implications in terms of integration and cultural development. Originality/value This paper discusses a topic rarely addressed the impact of VFR and immigration on shaping urban tourism.