VFR travel interactions through the lens of the host

Abstract

Visiting friends and relatives (VFR) travel is a substantial segment of tourism globally. In many countries, VFR travel represents a large proportion of visitor movement. The size of the segment is often underestimated because official data only reveal VFR by purpose of visit or VFR by accommodation, contributing to the underestimation of the size of VFR travel. Similarly, there is a lack of research that considers the role of the VFR host in VFR travel which results in a lack of understanding. Clearly, the role of the host is critical in VFR travel and it is what centrally defines VFR. This study contributes to the research in VFR travel through providing research related to hosting VFRs. Of note, this study was undertaken in Turkey, which makes a significant contribution to scholarship given the lack of research that has been undertaken outside of Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States, which are the areas in which VFR travel research has dominated. This study determined the profiles and characteristics of 423 VFR travellers to Nevsehir, Turkey, and their hosts. Accordingly, this study provides a significant contribution to the scholarship of tourism by providing rich data on an area of tourism (hosting VFRs) that had to date, been overlooked.