Although almost half of US pleasure travellers are visiting friends and
relatives (VFR), this market was marginalised and forgotten until the late
1980s. This study was designed to analyse sociodemographic and trip
characteristic (‘tripographic’) differences between VFR and
non-VFR travellers and between single- and multi-destination VFR travellers.
Using data from a national travel survey, significant differences were found in
the socio-demographic and trip characteristics of VFR and non-VFR travellers.
Approximately 9 per cent of VFR travellers had multiple destinations, and
multidestination VFRs had different characteristics than single-destination
VFRs. Several important recommendations are provided for marketers interested in
pursuing VFRs as a niche market.
Morrison, A. M.
,
Verginis, C. S.
and
O’Leary, J. T.
(2000)
‘Reaching the unwanted and unreachable: An analysis of the
outbound, long-haul German and British visiting friends and relatives market’
, Tourism and Hospitality Management, Vol. 2, No.
3, pp.
199-231
.
2.
Lehto, X.
,
Morrison, A.
and
O’Leary, J.
(2001)
‘Does the visiting friends and relatives’ typology make
a difference? A study of the international VFR market to the US’
, Journal of Travel Research, Vol. 40, No.
2, pp.
201-212
.
3.
Morrison, A. M.
,
Hsieh, S.
and
O’Leary, J.
(1995)
‘Segmenting the visiting friends and relatives market by holiday
activity participation’
, Journal of Tourism Studies, Vol. 6, No.
1, pp.
48-63
.
4.
White, C.
(1996) ‘The VFR: The international market
perspective’, in
Yaman, H. R.
(ed.), ‘VFR Tourism: Issues and Implications’,
Victoria University of Technology, Melbourne
, pp. 66-69.
5.
Seaton, A. V.
(1994) ‘Are relatives friends? Reassessing the
VFR category in segmenting tourism markets’, in
Seaton, A. V.
(ed), ‘Tourism: The State of the Art’,
John Wiley & Sons, Chichester
, pp. 316-321.
6.
Moscardo et al., ref. 3 above.
7.
Ibid.
8.
Seaton, ref. 1 above; Seaton, ref. 5 above.
9.
Travel Industry Association of America
(2000) ‘Tourism Works for America’,
ninth edition,
TIAA, Washington, DC
.
10.
Denman, R.
(1998) ‘A Response to the VFR Market. A Report to
the English Tourist Board and Regional Tourist Boards’,
British Tourism Authority/English Tourist Board, London
.
11.
Seaton, ref. 1 above; Lehto et al., ref. 2 above.
12.
World Tourism Organisation
(2000) ‘Tourism Highlights 2000’,
available at http://www.world-tourism.org/frameset/frame_market_data.htm
accessed 23rd October, 2001.
13.
Lehto et al., ref. 2 above.
14.
Moscardo et al., ref. 3 above.
15.
Seaton, ref. 5 above.
16.
Yuan, T.
,
Fridgen, J. D.
,
Hsieh, S.
and
O’Leary, J. T.
(1995)
‘Visiting friends and relatives travel market: The Dutch case’
, Journal of Tourism Studies, Vol. 6, No.
1, pp.
19-26
.
17.
Morrison et al., ref. 3 above.
18.
Moscardo et al., ref. 3 above.
19.
Morrison et al., ref. 3 above.
20.
Moscardo et al., ref. 3 above.
21.
McKercher, B.
(1996)
‘Host involvement in VFR travel’
, Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 23, No.
3, pp.
701-703
.
22.
Lehto et al., ref. 2 above.
23.
Seaton, ref. 1 above.
24.
King, B.
(1996) ‘VFR — A future research
agenda’, in
Yaman, H. R.
(ed.), ‘VFR Tourism: Issues and Implications’,
Victoria University of Technology, Melbourne
, pp. 86-89.
25.
Beioley, S.
(1997)
‘Four weddings, a funeral and a holiday — The visiting
friends and relative market’
, Insight, Vol. 8, July, pp.
B1-B15
.
26.
King, B.
and
Gamage, M. A.
(1994)
‘Measuring the value of the ethnic connection: Expatriate
travellers from Australia to Sri Lanka’
, Journal of Travel Research, Vol. 33, No.
2, pp.
46-50
.
27.
Morrison et al., ref. 3 above.
28.
Seaton and Palmer, ref. 2 above.
29.
Beioley, ref. 25 above.
30.
Jackson, R. T.
(1990)
‘VFR tourism: Is it underestimated?’
, Journal of Tourism Studies, Vol. 1, No.
2, pp.
10-17
.
31.
Ibid.
32.
Canadian Travel Press
(1999) ‘Canadian Travel to Europe: Prospects for
the 21st Century’, available at
http://www.travelpress.com/ctp/issues/1999-07-16/report.html, accessed
19th February, 2001.
33.
Paci, E.
(1994)
‘Market segments: The major international VFR markets’
, EIU Travel & Tourism Analyst, Vol. 6, pp.
36-50
.
34.
Seaton, ref. 1 above.
35.
Canadian Travel Press, ref. 32 above.
36.
King, ref. 24 above.
37.
King and Gamage, ref. 26 above.
38.
Seaton and Palmer, ref. 2 above; Lehto et al., ref. 2 above; Moscardo et al.,
ref. 3 above.
39.
Moscardo et al., ref. 3 above; Jackson, ref. 30 above.
40.
Fache, W.
(1994) ‘Short break
holidays’, in
Seaton, A. V.
(ed), ‘Tourism: The State of the Art’,
John Wiley & Sons, Chichester
, pp. 459-467.
41.
Seaton, ref. 1 above; Seaton, ref. 5 above.
42.
Lohmann, M.
(1991) ‘The evolution of shortbreaks in
Europe’, in
Fache, W.
(ed.) ‘Shortbreak Holidays’,
Centre Parcs, Rotterdam
, pp. 79-87.
43.
Seaton, ref. 1 above; Seaton, ref. 5 above.
44.
Durie, A.
and
Wilkie, E.
(1994) ‘Characteristics and trends in North
American visitors to Scotland from 1945-1992’,
Scottish Tourist Board, Edinburgh
.
45.
Seaton, ref. 5 above.
46.
Seaton, A. V.
and
Tagg, S. J.
(1995)
‘Disaggregating friends and relatives in VFR tourism research:
the Northern Ireland evidence 1991-1993’
, Journal of Tourism Studies, Vol. 6, No.
1, pp.
6-18
.
47.
Morrison et al., ref. 1 above.
48.
Yuan et al., ref. 16 above.
49.
King and Gamage, ref. 26 above.
50.
Yuan et al., ref. 16 above.
51.
Morrison et al., ref. 1 above.
52.
Seaton and Palmer, ref. 2 above.
53.
Seaton and Tagg, ref. 46 above.
54.
Morrison et al., ref. 3 above.
55.
Braunlich, C. G.
and
Nadkarni, N.
(1995)
‘The importance of the VFR market to the hotel industry’
, Journal of Tourism Studies, Vol. 6, No.
1, pp.
38-46
.
56.
Seaton, ref. 5 above.
57.
Seaton and Tagg, ref. 46 above.
58.
Hay, B.
(1996) ‘An insight in to the European
experience: A case study on domestic VFR tourism within the
UK’, in
Yaman, H. R.
(ed.), ‘VFR Tourism: Issues and Implications’,
Victoria University of Technology, Melbourne
, pp. 51-65.
59.
Seaton and Tagg, ref. 46 above.
60.
Meis, S.
,
Joyal, S.
and
Trites, A.
(1995)
‘The US repeat and VFR visitor to Canada: Come again, eh!’
, Journal of Tourism Studies, Vol. 6, No.
1, pp.
27-37
.
61.
Morrison et al., ref. 1 above.
62.
Hanson, S.
(1980)
‘Spatial diversification and multipurpose travel: Implications
for choice theory’
, Geographical Analysis, Vol. 12, No. 3,
pp.
245-257
.
63.
Leiper, N.
(1989)
‘Main destination ratios: Analyses of tourist flows’
, Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 16, pp.
530-541
.
64.
Hanson, ref. 62 above.
65.
Thill, J.
and
Thomas, I.
(1987)
‘Toward conceptualising tripchaining behaviour: A review’
, Geographical Analysis, Vol. 19, No. 1,
pp.
1-17
.
66.
Lue, C.
,
Crompton, J. L.
and
Stewart, W. P.
(1996)
‘Evidence of cumulative attraction in multidestination
recreational trip decisions’
, Journal of Travel Research, Vol. 30,
Summer, pp.
41-49
.
67.
Wall, ref. 66 above.
68.
Ewing and Baxter, ref. 66 above.
69.
Baxter and Ewing, ref. 66 above.
70.
Ibid.
71.
Lue, Crompton and Fesenmaier, ref. 66 above.
72.
Lue, Crompton and Stewart, ref. 66 above.
73.
Morrison et al., ref. 1 above.
74.
Bureau of Transportation Statistics
(1996) ‘1995 American Travel Survey Data Collection
and Processing Procedures’, available at
http://www.bts.gov/ats/appd.html, accessed 23rd October, 2001.
75.
McGuckin, N.
(1998) ‘Personal Travel: The Long and the Short of
it’, available at
http://www.bts.gov/nhts/docs/longshort.html, accessed 23rd October, 2001.
76.
Cody, R. P.
and
Smith, J. K.
(1997) ‘Applied Statistics and the SAS Programming
Language’,
Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River
.
77.
Beioley, ref. 25 above.
78.
Seaton and Palmer, ref. 2 above.
79.
Morrison et al., ref. 1 above.
80.
Seaton and Palmer, ref. 2 above.
81.
Morrison, A.
,
Woods, B.
,
Pearce, P.
and
Moscardo, G.
(2000)
‘Marketing to the visiting friends and relatives segment: An
international analysis’
, Journal of Vacation Marketing, Vol. 6, No.
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.
