Visiting Friends And Relatives Travel Research Articles

Visiting Friends and Relatives Travel: Unveiling Hidden Drivers Behind Festival Attendance and Experience

This research note unveils a pivotal, yet underexplored, aspect of festival attendance: the impact of Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) travel. Employing data from a 2019 attendee survey at the Taste of Little Italy Festival, Toronto, it reveals that 23.3% of respondents were engaged in VFR travel, exhibiting higher spending, yet often providing lower evaluations of their festival experience. The nuanced relationship between VFR travel, spending patterns, and festival experience opens a new avenue for exploration for festival researchers and practitioners. This note aims to encourage festival researchers and practitioners to consider the implications of VFR. A more comprehensive understanding of this topic could reveal strategies to engage this stable demand source, influencing not only event management strategies but also enhancing cultural engagement and community attachment. The note underscores the opportunity for festivals to engage residents and their visitors to optimize both economic and experiential outcomes.

“Hui Laojia”: Children's visit experiences and geographical imagination

This study explores children's domestic visiting friends and relatives (VFR) travel experiences and their development of place meaning about their ancestral home or home village, “Laojia.” Using constructivist grounded theory, data were gathered through 19 drawings and photo-elicitation interviews with children aged 6–12. Findings revealed that “Laojia” was the central meaning of children's domestic VFR travel, built on their visit experiences and geographical imagination. Results indicated how place meaning arose from and interwove with geographical imagination in constructing “Laojia.” Children's domestic VFR travel in China represents a unique countryside journey, “Hui Laojia.” It is crucial to understand this culturally specific and geographically situated practice which integrates the ordinary and the novel. This study makes contributions to research on VFR and geographical imagination. Its findings help tourism managers and destination marketing organizations address the needs of children and families, informing government policies related to rural revitalization. Future directions are discussed.

Pre-travel vaccine information needs, attitudes, drivers of uptake and the role for decision aids in travel medicine.

Many travellers do not receive vaccines pre-travel. Tools such as vaccine decision aids could support informed vaccine decision-making. We aimed to characterise Australians' pre-travel vaccine attitudes, behaviours and information needs and examine the role for decision aids in travel medicine. Online cross-sectional survey of Australian adults in December 2022. We included questions on demographics, pre-travel health-seeking behaviour, and information needs. We measured vaccine confidence (Vaccine Confidence Index Index) and used hypothetical disease scenarios to evaluate behavioural and social drivers of vaccination. We used multivariable logistic regression models to identify predictors of vaccine uptake and thematically analysed free-text responses. We received complete survey responses from 1223/1326 Australians (92% response rate). Amongst those reporting previous overseas travel, 67% (778/1161) reported past pre-travel health encounter(s) and 64% (743/1161) reported past pre-travel vaccination. Half (50%) strongly agreed that vaccines were important for their health; fewer strongly agreed that vaccines were safe (37%) and effective (38%). In multivariable analyses, past pre-travel vaccine uptake was associated with increasing age (OR = 1.17 [95% CI 1.08-1.27] p < 0.001 per ten-year increase) and travel to higher-risk destinations (OR = 2.92 [2.17-3.93] p < 0.001); travellers visiting friends and relatives (VFRs) were less likely to have received pre-travel vaccines (OR = 0.74 [0.56-0.97] p = 0.028). Predictors for wanting vaccination against hypothetical diseases included past pre-travel vaccination (Disease X: OR 2.60 [1.91-3.56] p < 0.001) and confidence in vaccine safety (Disease X: OR 7.18 [5.07-10.18], p < 0.001); past VFR travel was predictive of not wanting vaccination (Disease X: OR 0.72 [0.52-1.00], p = 0.049). Most (63%) were interested in using a vaccine decision aid, generally together with a trusted health professional. Health professionals play an important role in supporting pre-travel vaccine decision-making. However, our findings indicate that reliable, accurate and engaging digital resources, such as decision aids, could support travellers to make informed pre-travel vaccine decisions.

Do people living with HIV travel safely? Assessment of travel patterns and advice-seeking behaviour in a cohort of people living with HIV in Belgium.

Pre-travel counselling has demonstrated its efficacy in decreasing travel-related health complications. The current profile of people living with HIV (PLWH) in Europe [increasing age, visiting friends and relatives (VFR)] makes pre-travel counselling crucial. We aimed to survey the self-reported travel patterns and advice-seeking behaviour among PLWH followed up at the HIV Reference Centre (HRC) of Saint-Pierre Hospital, Brussels. A survey was conducted in all PLWH presenting at the HRC from February to June 2021. The survey covered demographic elements, travel and pre-travel consultation habits over the last 10 years, or since the diagnosis of HIV if it was made less than 10 years earlier. The survey was completed by 1024 PLWH (35% women, median age 49 years, the majority being virologically controlled). A substantial number of PLWH were involved in VFR travel in low-resource countries and 65% sought pre-travel advice before travelling: if not, it was because they did not know it was necessary (91%). Travel is common among PLWH. Raising awareness of the importance of pre-travel counselling should be a routine part of every healthcare encounter and especially during regular contact with HIV physicians.

VFR Travel in Turkey during and Post-COVID-19

Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) travel is a significant component of travel across the globe. Whilst COVID-19 impacted all travel in all countries, its impact on VFR in certain cultures was particularly pronounced. Aside from reconnecting socially with friends and relatives, in some cultures, certain ceremonies and rituals were compromised, meaning a complex choice for residents between focusing on global health information (e.g., avoiding contact, especially with elderly who are at risk) and disobeying significant cultural rituals that signify respect and importance. Whilst most VFR travel research has focused on western countries, this research examined the impact of COVID-19 travel restrictions and health warnings on VFR travel in the country of Turkey. The significance of COVID-19 to VFR travel in Turkey is explained, and implications for the future are put forward.

Does Destination, Relationship Type, or Migration Status of the Host Impact VFR Travel?

Visiting friends and relatives (VFR) travel hosts play a key role in influencing the trip characteristics of their VFR travel parties and the decisions and activities within those travel parties. However, how those trips are shaped in terms of travel decisions and activities is not well understood. This is the first quantitative study examining the hosting of VFRs by examining how migration, relationship type (VF versus VR), and destination type impact the characteristics and activities of VFR travel parties. The objective was to examine the extent of influence of different characteristics of VFR hosts on individual VFR travel decisions and activities. Estimation models were developed and tested through regression analysis to examine the impact that the characteristics of hosts have on decisions and activities within VFR travel. Such findings have provided a systematic framework for examining the multifaceted role of VFR hosts. The generalisability of the estimation models developed and tested in this study can be replicated and adapted in future studies.

The Child Tourist: Agency and Cultural Competence in VFR Travel

In this article, we meet a seven-year-old boy, Matti, who was adopted from his birth country in Africa by a family in Sweden. We meet him together with his family as they are planning a family adoption return trip to his birth country and again after their return. We argue that an adoption return trip is a form of family travel and/or visiting friends and relatives (VFR) travel. By methodologically using a so-called children’s perspective we are primarily focusing on Matti and how he talks about the return trip. We explore some key concepts from child studies through Matti’s relational encounters in the world. By presenting agency and cultural competence as something that is enacted in practice, we show how they are enacted through the dependencies between Matti, his mother and his sister. The analysis shows that cultural competence and agency are fluid in the sense that they can be changed by how topics of discussion are woven through one another. Staying with Matti’s lived practices makes it possible to elaborate on and demonstrate different forms of competence and agency that are important for understanding children as tourists and children’s roles in family travel.

To return or not to return? Identifying VFR travel constraints during the pandemic

ABSTRACT Despite the prominence of visiting friends and relatives (VFR) travel to show strong resilience in the face of global crises, it has been one of the most underexplored tourism contexts in the literature. This study examined travel constraints of VFR travelers during the pandemic to enrich this tourism context. Using an inductive theory approach, thematic analysis of 167 online posts and 8,403 online comments from prospective Taiwanese VFR travelers living elsewhere unveiled a framework of VFR travel constraints that included six types of travel constraints for VFR tourists who have made travel-related decisions amid COVID-19. Specifically, fourteen travel constraints were identified and situated within a three (individual - family - community) two (tourist generating country - tourist receiving country) framework to understand their causes and natures. Theoretically, this study served as a pioneering attempt to link the concept of travel constraints with VFR tourism and enriched our understanding of VFR travelers’ related decision making. Practically, destination management organizations and tourism businesses should find the study findings insightful because they demonstrate ways of promoting VFR travel to foster tourism rejuvenation in the post-pandemic. Limitations and future research directions were discussed at the end of this study.

The connection between VFR experience based and sociocultural dimensions of international students and mainland Chinese students

PurposeThis paper aims to present the host experience of student hosts in Hong Kong, a popular educational destination for international students from mainland China and other countries. This study examines the interconnection between the experience-based and sociocultural dimensions of visiting friends and relatives (VFR) travel, considering the overall host experience, the host–guest relationship and post-hosting changes in perception of both the VFR experience and destination.Design/methodology/approachThis research adopts a qualitative approach to compare the experience-based and sociocultural dimensions of VFR travel considering international university students as VFR hosts in Hong Kong, taking a student sample from both mainland Chinese and overseas students. Based on a voluntary sampling approach, the research team had face-to-face interviews with the students that agreed to participate. The interviews were conducted voluntarily and anonymously and included those students who had hosted any friends or relatives in the past 12 months. A total of 26 interviews were successfully completed, including 10 mainland Chinese and 16 non-mainland Chinese students.FindingsThe results confirm that the VFR host experience is generally shaped by an integration of internal characteristics (sociocultural characteristics of both hosts and visitors) and external environment (urban infrastructure and tourism resources). The two groups distinctively express their host experience that shows some areas of cultural barriers and geographical proximity.Research limitations/implicationsThe limitations of this research mainly lie on its relatively small sample size because of constraints in accessing the contact information of international students across universities. These shortcomings should be improved by adopting a research design that uses other sampling approaches, such as snowball sampling, to include a wider scope of students from different local universities, or convenience sampling, to interview and compare responses of international students from various educational destinations. Alternative data sources may be considered, for example, through user-generated contents from online and social media platforms that contain sharing of students as hosts.Practical implicationsThe geographical and cultural proximities influence VFR tourism development and social construction of values and the consequent hosting behaviour. The unique role of international students should be further explored, especially in the Asian context. The outcome of VFR travel must be evaluated and studied more from cultural and personal dimensions than economic gain, which should be relevant to host perspective such as improved quality of life, social ties and place attachment and psychological benefits. The changing risk perception caused by the COVID-19 pandemic may be examined through some forms of travel intention.Social implicationsFirstly, the destination marketing organisations of the educational destination should address the difficulty faced by student hosts in terms of external attributes such as local culture, urban infrastructure, tourism resources and information accessibility. Secondly, to target the hosts, some specific VFR-related products and services may be developed for international students through local tertiary institutions such that the role of hosts as ambassadors can be facilitated and enhanced. Thirdly, the functional role of international students can be distinctive based on their unique network, activities and knowledge constructed upon learning during the period of education.Originality/valueThe studentification of many educational destination cities, the dynamism of the role of international students as VFR hosts and their cultural differences between places of origin have provided an opportunity for deepening the understanding of VFR tourism.

Understanding students as hosts: moving beyond sightseeing

PurposeNeither visitors of visiting friends and relatives (VFR) travel nor hosts are homogeneous segments (Griffin & Guttenberg, 2020). For this reason, this study aims to address students as hosts of VFR travel and analyzes differences in the visitor and the host segment. As a result, marketing implications for destination marketing organizations that seek to realize the potential of the student VFR segment arise.Design/methodology/approachThis research project adopts a multi-method approach to derive a deeper empirical understanding of visitors’ behaviors and the role of students hosting friends and relatives (SHFR). The quantitative study aims to reveal the relevance and differences between visits to friends (VF) and visits to relatives (VR), whereas the qualitative study elaborates on the findings of the quantitative study and seeks to understand the role and experiences of students as hosts.FindingsThe findings reveal that VR and VF travelers vary in terms of their expenditure. Hosts’ spending depends on visitors’ budgets; in general, both their direct and indirect (when relatives pay) spending increases when they have visitors. Furthermore, the data identify two distinct hosting styles: functional hosting is concerned with providing outstanding hospitality based on a more traditional, guest-oriented understanding of the role, whereas integrative hosting blurs the lines between hospitality and lifestyle based on a more modern, host-oriented understanding of the role.Research limitations/implicationsRegarding limitations, this study did not differentiate between students who were simultaneously locals and students who resided in the city only for study purposes. In a similar vein, the cultural background of the students was not considered in the research. Finally, the differences between VF and VR could further be explored in a quantitative follow-up study and in testing for significant differences in SHFR spending behaviors. Further research could examine whether domestic travelers, travelers with cultural proximity and/or short-distance VFR travelers are more likely to visit after COVID-19 as suggested by Backer and Ritchie (2017) in the case of crises and disaster.Practical implicationsStudents as hosts differ from other hosts in VFR travel in their reluctance to embrace conventional tourism products. This study found that place attachment makes hosts of VFR travelers passionate ambassadors and advertisers for the destinations; destination marketing organizations (DMOs) could support this already positive image by providing and supporting students with more detailed information about their cities and the opportunities they offer. Results are of particular relevance because the COVID-19 pandemic is forcing DMOs to develop destination strategies that incorporate social-distancing and avoid crowded places.Social implicationsWhen students take their friends out to events and nightclubs, they contribute significantly to experiences that go beyond typical tourism activities such as sightseeing and shopping. By offering special discounts to visitors who come with their hosts, DMOs could help visitors delve more deeply into city life and thereby reduce the likeliness of crowded city centers. Considering the findings relating to the social and emotional qualities of VFR travel, DMO marketing to VFR travelers could benefit from promoting socio-cultural spaces and offerings that value groups’ social ties (e.g. family prices for families with adult children) or alumni status.Originality/valueAccording to the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first which analyzes both, visitors and hosts of VFR travel using a two methods approach. Very recently, Griffin and Guttenberg (2020) miss VFR research focusing on the heterogeneity of the segment, and Backer et al. (2020) claim for more VFR research on the role of hosts carried out outside of Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the UK and the USA. To the authors’ best knowledge, this study is the first which delivers empirical insights on SHFR in Central Europe.

COVID-19 Lockdown and Visiting Friends and Relatives Travellers: Impact and opportunities

Tourism is regarded as a powerful force in the rise of pandemic diseases as the movement of people is seen as a pathway for the spread of such diseases. The sector is thus susceptible to measures to prevent the spread of pandemics. In the wake of COVID-19, unprecedented lockdown regulations relating to travel restrictions and social distancing have had a direct and indirect impact on the tourism industry and visiting friends and relatives (VFR) travel in particular. More than half of the domestic tourism market comprises tourists who visit friends and relatives in all corners of South Africa. With the restrictions on public gatherings and travel in the country, inter/intra provincial travel largely ceased on 26 March 2020. This paper draws on existing literature, as well as current media sources to review the literature on the legacy of VFR travel; assess the impact of COVID-19 on VFR travel; and finally, to examine the opportunity that might be created by COVID-19 for such travel. It argues that, in the wake of COVID-19, VRF has the potential to fuel the resurgence of the tourism industry in South Africa, especially domestic tourism. Thus, destination marketing organisations might consider a coordinated effort to market this form of travel.

Travel health seeking behaviours, masks, vaccines and outbreak awareness of Australian Chinese travellers visiting friends and relatives - Implications for control of COVID-19.

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the role of international travel in spreading infections. Travellers visiting friends and relatives (VFR) are at higher risk of acquiring infections than other travellers, therefore improving the travel health behaviour of these travellers is important. Ethnic Chinese are one of the largest migrant groups in many countries, yet there have been no published studies regarding this population as VFR travellers. We present findings of a study of Australian Chinese VFR travellers relevant to the pandemic response.MethodsIn 2013, five focus groups were conducted with Australian Chinese VFR travellers, exploring topics such as vaccines, face masks, outbreaks and travel health seeking behaviour. Participants were aged 18 years or older and had travelled to China for VFR purposes in the preceding 18 months. Sessions were recorded and transcribed, and thematic analysis was undertaken.ResultsParticipants viewed VFR travel as low risk, and underestimated the risks associated with travelling during an outbreak. However, they were generally willing to receive pre-travel vaccination specifically for an outbreak, but not otherwise. Attitudes towards face masks and other infection control measures were mixed. Multiple factors influenced their travel health behaviour, including low risk awareness, misconceptions, and cultural barriers to seeking health care.ConclusionOur research found that Chinese VFR travellers undertake suboptimal precautions related to VFR travel, associated with an underestimation of risks. While they share many characteristics with other VFR travellers, unique cultural health beliefs should be taken into account when developing risk communication and educational interventions as part of a pandemic response.

VFR travel interactions through the lens of the host

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.

An exploratory study of the experience of VFR tourists: a culture shock perspective

Reversed culture shock is introduced as a surrogate for reverse culture shock to study the experience of tourists from developing countries visiting friends and relatives (VFR) residing in a developed country. The established concept of reverse culture shock postulates a state of emotional being, wherein negative feelings about one's own culture occur upon returning home. Instead, these tourists tend to romanticize their native culture and idealize their country of origin during their visit. This contemporary culture shock presents as a reactive state to their stigmatization in the country visited, resulting in psychological shocks. Culture shock and reverse culture shock have widely been studies from the Western prism. This article uses stigma and metaperception to study tourist-host encounter in ticklish situations, and offers a new perspective on VFR travel. Suggestions for further research are proposed.

VFR travel: Do visits improve or reduce our quality of life?

Abstract Quality of Life (QOL) has started to emerge as an important component across numerous disciplines including tourism. Whilst studies regarding QOL have been around for decades in many disciplines, the field is relatively new in tourism. The relationship between QOL and tourism is important given that there have been studies revealing that travel can increase an individual's perceived and actual QOL. Those studies that have examined the relationship between QOL and tourism have focused on pleasure/leisure travel. Thus, other types of travel, namely Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) travel have not been examined with respect to QOL. In terms of QOL, VFR can be derided in conversation, identifying it as an unwanted irritation that can hardly boost QOL. This is particularly relevant in terms of VFR hosting. However, the link between VFR and QOL has not been empirically tested and as such, it is unclear whether VFR can improve or reduce QOL. Accordingly, this paper examines the link between VFR travel and QOL. Based on a sample size of 552 across Australia, this research found that whilst VFR can reduce QOL in some situations, in most cases, positive QOL benefits arise from both hosting and visiting VFRs.

Interactive mobilities: Conceptualising VFR tourism of international students

Abstract The relationship between tourism and migration that has resulted from increasing global mobility is a complex phenomenon. As part of that phenomenon, research has shown a strong connection between international education, particularly at the tertiary level, and tourism. In particular, international students have been found to have a strong impact on the tourism industry of their study country. This paper investigates a specific form of tourism in which international students are involved: Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) tourism. It details an initial conceptual understanding of the relationship between international students and VFR tourism. A conceptual framework is developed to help illustrate this relationship, highlight new avenues for research, and indicate how this relationship connects with the wider tourism-migration literature. The framework suggests that the interface between VFR tourism and international students can be explained through a number of aspects, two of which are addressed in the paper: VFR travel behaviour and host–guest dynamics in VFR tourism of international students. These aspects are analysed throughout the pre-, during, and post study periods. The paper sheds further light on emerging VFR related concepts - such as VFR tourism in a third place - as well as theories regarding the notion of hosts and guests in the modern mobile world. Suggestions for future research are also provided.

The tourist experience of domestic VFR travellers: the case of Hungary

Visiting friends and relatives (VFR) is the main driver of domestic travel in many countries. This study is one of the first to analyse VFR travel from a perspective of tourist experience. This study aims to investigate the complex dynamics behind VFR-related travel, especially in aspects of trip activities and tourist experience formation. Based on a survey (N = 879) examining domestic VFR travellers’ trip activities in Hungary, the paper discusses the formation of a tourist experience in context of short-haul domestic VFR travel, especially the role of influencing factors. The results reveal differences between the segments with trip motivation of visiting friends (VF) and visiting relatives (VR) – the two main types of VFR tourists. It was found that independent variables such as VF, staying for longer and participating in leisure and tourism-type activities have a positive effect on tourist experience evolvement; however, factors such as VR, being rather passive during such a visit and focusing on social acts and bonding negatively affect the formulation of a tourist experience. The paper’s novelty and uniqueness lies in applying a new perspective of analysing and discussing VFR travel: the theoretical concept of tourist experience formation.

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.

Expatriates' learning: The role of VFR tourism

Abstract Few studies exist which have explored the impact of Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) on their host. Of these that have explored the impact on the host, only limited generalizable findings have been offered. The field of VFR has already been found to be misunderstood and under-represented in many areas. The influence on expatriate-hosts' learning could be another one of these areas. The impact of VFR travel on expatriates has received almost no previous consideration, yet expatriates can and often do play host to visiting friends and relatives. A total of 3058 questionnaires were tested using Correlation and Multiple Regression from expatriates in Dubai, UAE. Results suggested that hosts learnt more from their visitor if their visitor was a relative, stayed with the host, was younger than the host, was more educated than the host, and, to a certain degree, if the visitor travelled to specifically to visit the host.

Qualitative Approaches to the Phenomenology of VFR Travel: The use of Literary and Cultural Texts as Resources

AbstractA paradox about visiting friends and relatives (VFR) travel is that, although a marginalized category by tourism planners and academics until recently, it has always been, as a domain of behaviour, more central to human experience than leisure tourism. Relationships between relatives and friends have, at all places and times, been forged and sustained by reciprocal visits, a reality borne out by reflection, and one that has been documented widely in cultural texts. This paper explores what these texts tell us about the subjective meaning and significance of VFR travel that is not necessarily disclosed by the quantitative, problem‐centred approaches used in managerial research. The first part examines a sample of, mainly, literary texts from the past and present and identifies some of the diverse scenes and scenarios within them. The paper then moves from the texts to offer a theoretical framework for understanding the phenomenology of VFR travel, derived from the sociological insights of Georg Simmel into social gatherings and informal associations. This qualitative framework, it is proposed, augments the quantitative methodologies that currently dominate VFR research, as a way of exploring the existential features of VFR behaviour. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.