Hosting friends and relatives as a catalyst for immigrant participation in touristic leisure

Abstract

Participation in leisure activities has been broadly shown to have positive impacts on immigrant integration. Hosting Friends and Relatives (HFR) is a highly contextual leisure activity that encourages immigrants to explore their new communities, and helps them forge connections and attachments between old and new worlds. This study surveyed 2,201 panel respondents from Toronto, Canada on their touristic leisure activities while hosting. Findings show that recently-arrived immigrant hosts visit more attractions and areas of their community, and are more likely to be participating in these experiences for the first time than other resident hosts. These results provide quantitative support for the notion, as established through previous qualitative research, that hosting can be a mechanism that pushes immigrants to engage in touristic leisure in their new communities, thereby strengthening place attachment and integration.