Familiar tourists, their behaviours and place attachments: an empirical framework

Abstract

ABSTRACTRecognising the importance of familiar places in the lives of individuals and its prevalence in society, this paper examines the behaviours of familiar tourists and their relationships with their familiar places. Stimulated by conceptual work by Pearce on the experience of visiting home and familiar places, published in Annals of Tourism Research in 2012 alongside personal observation of the phenomenon, and with input from early focus group work, the fieldwork was conducted in two rural and peripheral destinations of Wales in the United Kingdom across peak and shoulder periods. This paper contributes a multi-level framework of familiar tourist behaviour rooted in the evidence. In unifying the study findings, the framework of familiar tourist behaviour emphasises the consumption behaviours of familiar tourists including the longevity and dynamic nature of the relationship between familiar tourist and their familiar place, the role of familiar tourist resources, skills and competencies, and the overarching theme of belonging.