Sustainable tourism: Prioritising visiting friends and relatives can benefit communities
Image: Visiting friends and family travel is important to many regional or rural economies where the residents themselves are the drawcard. Image: bankrx — stock.adobe.com
A Federation University researcher says tourism bodies should focus more on people visiting their friends and relatives as a strategy for sustainable tourism, as the segment boosts local economies and leaves a smaller carbon footprint than those who use commercial travel arrangements.
Future Regions Research Centre researcher Professor Elisa Zentveld's recently published study shows that Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) travel has characteristics that make the segment attractive to destination marketers, but there is little research on these travellers.
Professor Zentveld says VFR travellers – people who typically stay with friends or family but can also stay in commercial accommodation near friends or family – also strengthen community ties and can enhance the overall visitor experience.
"When people travel, they might be more inclined to leave the lights on, leave the air conditioning on and get the towels laundered every day. But when they're staying with friends or family, they are a lot less likely to be doing so," Prof Zentveld said.
"Those sustainability practices that we have got into the habit of doing at home, we take with us because we are trying to be respectful of someone's home.
"For destinations that want to be more sustainable, there are opportunities to promote that in their strategy, because VFR travel is a segment that brings in new income while adhering to any sustainability measures and values that have been set."
Professor Zentveld says that VFR travel is largely hidden from official travel data, and the numbers become more significant during economic downturns, when people are likely to spend less on travel.
She says this type of travel is also crucial to many regional or rural economies that may not have 'honeypot attractions' that draw people in, and where the residents themselves are the drawcard.
"Events like graduations, celebrations of milestone birthdays, christenings, weddings, funerals – there are so many things that give people a reason to travel, and they are not thinking whether they can afford it," Prof Zentveld said.
"The psychology of this is very different, it's not about whether they can afford a luxury, it is something that they need to do, and this drives a lot of travel, even if their finances aren't amazing."
Prof Zentveld says VFR travel also presents opportunities for the broader economy, including accommodation providers, as it's often not practical to stay with family and friends.
"These travellers are still active in the communities they visit, going to attractions and out for dinner – there are definitely still opportunities for businesses because there are only so many backyard barbecues you want to do," she said.
"But sustainability isn't just about the carbon footprint. It's also about the well-being of the community, and because VFRs are connected to the destination, they tend to have less of that friction that tourists can have.
"So even though not everyone's travel experience might not be amazing overall, VFR travellers can really boost the destination they are visiting. It's new income, which means better infrastructure, which benefits any community."
Prof Zentveld's interest in the segment began while she managed destination marketing organisations. Data from Tourism Research Australia showed that VFR numbers were significant, but no one had dug into the data to learn more about how best to market to the travellers.
"One of the key differences is instead of marketing outside the region, which is what is normally done with tourism, you're marketing in the region because what you're wanting to do is let residents know about the events that are coming up, the restaurants that are available, and the opportunities where someone might stay if they're not going to stay with friends or family," Prof Zentveld said.
"The locals don't know the hotels because they don't need to stay there, and they won't necessarily know some of the attractions in their own region. But internal marketing within the region, which is a more cost-effective type of marketing, will reach the residents, who then pass that information on to their friends and relatives.
"Visitors will take more notice of the locals over the promotional message because they know them and they trust their advice. So for operators and destinations that might be looking at new ways of driving in new income and targeting a new market, this could be great opportunities."