a b s t r a c tVisiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) travel is a substantial form of tourism worldwide. In Australia, official data measure VFR in one of two ways e purpose of visit or type of accommodation. However, this is only a measurement of those factors; it is not a measure of the size by volume of VFR travel. Yet tourism practitioners often mistakenly use these data to state the size of VFR travel in their destination. Based on quantitative research undertaken in three contrasting destinations in Australia, estimates for the size of VFR travel in those destinations is provided. These results highlight that using official data for measuring VFR travel will underestimate this segment in any Australian destination. Using the VFR definitional model as a conceptual model, this research has estimated that VFR travel represents 48% of Australia's total overnight tourism market.

No abstract

Rebuilding tourist arrivals after crises/disasters is important. However, tourism may have negative impacts in terms of interfering with the destination recovery efforts, and adding distress to local residents. Therefore, consideration should be placed on timing tourism marketing as well as the market segments most suitable to target. This paper integrates both medical literature and tourism literature to consider whether Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) travel may be viable for destinations to consider after crises/disasters. The authors conclude that VFR travel offers both benefits and risks and recommends that only domestic VFR travellers are targeted to aid destination recovery. Future research avenues are also outlined. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This research explores the extent to which VFR travellers utilise commercial accommodation in the Sunshine Coast, Australia, and profi les the characteristics and behaviours of this particular type of VFR traveller. The research indicated that 26% of the VFRs stayed in commercial accommodation (CVFRs). This closely aligned with research using the same method in a comparative destination, Ballarat, Australia, indicating that 22% of VFRs stayed in commercial accommodation. CVFR travellers occupied similar types of commercial accommodation as non-VFRs and engaged in similar tourism activities. However, they came from different generating regions and used different sources of information for planning their trip.

No abstract

The most common stated reason for taking a holiday has been found to be 'to reduce stress'. However, for families, particularly those with young children, holidays may create rather than reduce stress. Often the source of stress is derived from accommodation in destinations not having adequate facilities. Using online questionnaires that allowed in-depth open-ended responses, the findings from 71 respondents within Australia's State of Victoria in 2011 revealed that in many cases, accommodation facilities that purported to be suited to the family failed to deliver, and created stress. Often this was caused by not providing inexpensive basic provisions. Typical examples included insufficient cutlery and crockery, or poor laundry facilities. Such deficiencies either added to parents' workload or made basic tasks more difficult, which was not conducive to relaxing. In many cases, the family holiday resulted in an increase in unpleasant tasks and irritations, and was therefore not a relaxing and enjoyable experience. Jn fact, for 35.2% of respondents, their stress levels were either unchanged (19.7%) or had increased (15.5%) after going on their last family holiday. Family holidays then provided less of an escape from the everyday.

No abstract

No abstract