Being and becoming local: migrants’ personal social networks and their influence on inclusive visiting friends and relatives tourism experiences

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper addresses inclusive tourism in multicultural societies by exploring the domestic tourism experiences of first-generation Italian and Chinese immigrants in Sweden within the context of visiting friends and relatives (VFR) tourism practices and activities. Our results highlight the complex interplay of personal social networks and the hosts’ positionality on VFR experiences and tourism dynamics. We stress the importance of the embeddedness of personal social networks in the host country itself, as well as the immigrant host being local, both of which are crucial to tourist mobility and inclusive tourism experiences. How local the host feels, and how local their network is, changes tourism practices, especially when the local network includes native members. Moreover, we observe how forced immobility during the COVID-19 pandemic led to increased exploration of local places. These observations point to the importance of tourism actors engaging with the wider society and non-tourism industries to co-create inclusivity and provide information and possibilities to engage with different places. The latter can then be used and enjoyed not only in immigrants’ daily lives but also through VFR to create further intercultural exchanges.