The economic contribution of the VFR (visiting friends and relatives) market to host
destinations has been underestimated, largely due to a lack of accurate data and
research on this segment. This underestimation seems to be linked to the
noncommercial accommodation usage and assumed within-group homogeneity of VFR
travellers. Using a large-scale national survey among French travellers visiting 17
different destination countries, this study aimed to re-evaluate the financial value
of VFR travellers and test their within-group differences. The results of the study
suggested a need to reconsider the stereotypical description of VFR travellers; a
significant portion of the French VFR market seems to be more lucrative compared
with other types of travellers. In addition, these high-spending VFR travellers
differ sharply from the low-spending VFR visitors in terms of their expenditure
patterns and trip-related behaviours. Implications for destination marketing are
also provided.
Morrison, A. M.
,
Hsieh, S.
and
O'Leary, J. T.
(1995)
'Segmenting the Visiting Friends and Relatives Market by Holiday
Activity Participation'
, Journal of Tourism Studies, 6(1):
48–63
.
2.
King, B.
(1996) 'VFR: A Future Research
Agenda', in
Yaman, H. R.
(ed.) VFR Tourism: Issues and Implications, pp.
86–89.
Melbourne: Victoria University of Technology
; Morrison, A. M. and O'Leary, J. T. (1995) 'The VFR
Market: Desperately Seeking Respect', Journal of Tourism Studies, 6(1):
2–5; Seaton, A. V. and Tagg, S. (1995) 'Disaggregating Friends
and Relatives in VFR Tourism Research: The Northern Ireland Evidence
1991–1993', Journal of Tourism Studies, 6(1): 6–18.
3.
Seaton, A. V.
and
Palmer, C.
(1997)
'Understanding VFR Tourism Behavior: The First Five Years of the
United Kingdom Tourism Survey'
, Tourism Management, 18(6):
345–355
; 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, pp. 316–21. Chichester: John Wiley Sons.
4.
Seaton and Palmer, ref. 3 above.
5.
Office of Travel and Tourism Industries (OTTI)
(2003) 2002 Profile of Overseas Travelers to the US
– Inbound Reported From 'Survey of International Air
Travelers (IFS)', available at
www.tinet.ita.doc.gov/view/f-2002–07–001/, consulted
September 2003.
6.
Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA)
(1999) VFR's Tourism Potential for Pacific
Asia, available at www.pata.org, consulted March 2003.
7.
PATA, ref. 6 above.
8.
Alberta Economic Development
(2002) Tourism in Alberta Central: A Summary of Visitor
Numbers, Revenue and Characteristics, 2000, available at
www.alberta-canada.com/statpub/files/pdf/AB_Central00.pdf, consulted June 2004.
9.
Moscardo, G. M.
,
Pearce, P. L.
,
Morrison, A. M.
,
Green, D.
and
O'Leary, J. T.
(2000)
'Developing a Typology for Understanding Visiting Friends and
Relatives Markets'
, Journal of Travel Research, 38(1):
251–259
.
10.
King, ref. 2 above; Morrison et al., ref. 1 above; White, C. (1996)
'The VFR: The International Market Perspective', in Yaman, H. R.
(ed.) VFR Tourism: Issues and Implications, pp. 67–70. Melbourne: Victoria
University of Technology.
11.
Morrison, A. M.
,
Verginis, C.
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'
, Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Research,
2(3):
214–231
.
12.
Seaton and Palmer, ref. 3 above.
13.
Paci, E.
(1994)
'Market Segments: The Major International VFR Markets'
, EIU Travel and Tourism Analyst,
6(August):
36–50
.
14.
Moscardo et al., ref. 9 above.
15.
Morrison et al., ref. 1 above.
16.
King, ref. 2 above.
17.
Moscardo et al., ref. 9 above.
18.
Jackson, R.
(1990)
'VFR Tourism: Is It Underestimated?'
, Journal of Tourism Studies,1(2):
10–17
.
19.
Moscardo et al., ref. 9 above.
20.
Hay, B.
(1996) 'An Insight into the European Experience:
A Case Study on Domestic VFR Tourism Within the UK', in
Yaman, H. R.
(ed.) VFR Tourism: Issues and Implications, pp.
52–66.
Melbourne: Victoria University of Technology
.
21.
Paci, ref. 13 above.
22.
Seaton and Tagg, ref. 2 above.
23.
Seaton and Palmer, ref. 3 above.
24.
Morrison et al., ref. 11 above.
25.
Seaton and Palmer, ref. 3 above.
26.
Braunlich, C. G.
and
Nadkarni, N.
(1995)
'The Importance of the VFR Market to the Hotel Industry'
, Journal of Tourism Studies, 6(1):
38–47
.
27.
Moscardo et al., ref. 9 above.
28.
Seaton and Palmer, ref. 3 above.
29.
Gitelson, R. J.
and
Crompton, J. L.
(1984)
'Insights into the Repeat Vacation Phenomenon'
, Annals of Tourism Research, 11(2):
199–217
; Fakeye, P. C. and Crompton, J. L. (1991) 'Image Differences
Between Prospective, First-Time, and Repeat Visitors to the Lower Rio Grande
Valley', Journal of Travel Research, 30(2): 10–16.
30.
Tiefenbacher, J. P.
,
Day, F. A.
and
Walton, J. A.
(2000)
'Attributes of Repeat Visitors to Small Tourist-Oriented Communities'
,Social Science Journal, 37(2):
299–308
.
31.
Travel Industry Association of America (TIA)
(2003) Europe Travel Demand: Trends and Insights, 2003,
available at
www.tia.org/%20Pubs/intlpubs.asp?PublicationID%20¼%20102,
consulted March 2003.
32.
TIA, ref. 31 above.
33.
TIA, ref. 31 above.
34.
Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC)
(2003) Canadian Tourism Facts & Figures 2001,
available at
www.canadatourism.com/ctxUploads/en_publications/Tourism2002.pdf,
consulted March 2003.
35.
CTC, ref. 34 above.
36.
Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC)
(2001) Canadian Tourism Facts & Figures 1999,
available at
www.canadatourism.com/ctxUploads/en_publications/Tourism2000.pdf,
consulted March 2003.
37.
OTTI, ref. 5 above; CTC, ref. 34 above.
38.
Travel Industry Association of America (TIA)
(2002) Domestic Travel Market Report, available at
www.tia.org/Pubs/pubs.asp?%20PublicationID%20¼%2094, consulted
March 2003.
39.
World Tourism Organization (WTO)
(2003) Tourism Market Trends World Overview and Tourism
Topics.
Madrid: WTO Publications
.
40.
WTO, ref. 39 above.
41.
Moscardo et al., ref. 9 above.
42.
Morrison et al., ref. 11 above.
43.
Moscardo et al., ref. 9 above; Morrison et al., ref. 11 above; Seaton and
Palmer, ref. 3 above.
44.
Moscardo et al., ref. 9 above.
45.
Moscardo et al., ref. 9 above.
46.
Office of Travel and Tourism Industries (OTTI)
(1998) Pleasure Travel Markets to North America (PTMS)
Programme, available at
http://tinet.ita.doc.gov/research/reports/ptms/index.html, consulted
March 2004.
