Visiting friends and relatives (VFR) tourism accounts for a substantial amount of worldwide travel, yet has received comparatively little attention regarding its impacts on sustainability. This paper provides an initial discussion that situates VFR tourism within a discussion on sustainable tourism development. The community capitals framework is used as a basis for the discussion. A review of academic literature on VFR and sustainable tourism provides the foundations for this paper.Due to the personal relationships inherent in VFR there are significant consequences regarding the social impacts of VFR tourism. Additionally, the economic implications of VFR tourism include a more stable demand, greater dispersal of spending, and engagement of residents as consumers.The ability of communities to absorb VFR tourism relative to other forms of tourism has positive indications for the cultural and environmental aspects of community development. As debates within the more recent literature consider the opportunities and possibilities for mass tourism to become more sustainable, this paper suggests that VFR could reasonably be considered a sustainable form of tourism and offers destinations a viable strategy for sustainable tourism development.
Personal relationships play a substantial part of many tourism trips, commonly referred to as visiting friends and relatives (VFR) tourism, yet despite the high volume of VFR, it is a relatively under-researched subject, receiving little attention from tourism practitioners. Immigration and VFR travel patterns are linked, and the study of immigrants who host VFR has implications for integration, community development, and destination marketing. This paper offers a discussion on the paradigmatic considerations of approaching research on this topic, drawing from literature on VFR, immigrant integration and leisure. The paper ultimately proposes that a constructionist approach would be most beneficial at this point of the topic development because of the unknown and highly contextual nature of the experience.
“Visiting friends and relatives” (VFR) is a tourism term used in academic and practitioner vernacular that refers to a substantial amount of activity and is yet commonly disregarded. This paper builds on previous literature that has demonstrated how a lack of understanding of what VFR encompasses facilitates the phenomenon to be undervalued and misunderstood. Without a clear conceptual definition, VFR continues to be presented with inconsistent and conflicting parameters, which creates discursive confusion rather than clarity and appreciation. This is important as tourism is often presented as a positive force for economic development in a wide range of communities, and VFR is almost routinely overlooked with high‐yield (hotel consuming) markets favoured; this is despite a growing body of literature that has explored the sustainability and positive community impacts of VFR activity and potential. A review of existing definitional work on VFR is provided, and a new conceptual definition is offered. Mobility influenced by a host is first distinguished from other forms of human movement; VFR is then positioned as a form of mobility influenced by a host that includes face‐to‐face interaction between a host and visitor who have a preexisting relationship. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.
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