BRIEFING PAPER

VFR Markets and Tourism

VFR Markets and Tourism

Introduction

The economic contribution of the tourism market whose main motivation is to travel to visit friends and relatives (VFR) is often underestimated because of the lack of precise information on the subject. As a consequence, it is a market segment that is rarely targeted by planners of marketing strategies on tourism. There are a myriad of reasons why managers of popular tourist destinations see VFR markets as being less lucrative and viable when compared with major tourism markets. However, there are also numerous reasons why VFR markets offer great potential to tourism managers for generating revenues and these should not be sidelined. As a result, it can be argued that VFR markets represent an important segment of the tourism market.

Discussion

The term 'VFR' stands for 'Visitors Friends Relatives' and refers to the visitors, friends and relatives who travel to a particular country for reasons other than for the purpose of tourism (Lehto et al., 2001, p. 201-212). When compared with the major tourism markets, most of which are represented by massive influx of tourists from all around the world, VFR markets make significantly smaller contributions to the tourism sector in terms of revenues and traffic of visitors (Jackson, 2003, p. 17-24). Nevertheless, these markets represent an important segment of the tourism market as they provide countries with ample opportunities to boost the revenues earned through tourism services.

It is common for managers of popular tourist destinations to neglect or tend to ignore VFR markets. One of the major reasons for this is that VFR markets are mostly small when compared with major tourism markets. This means that the number of visitors that this market comprises of is significantly small compared to the major tourism market (Jackson, 2003, p. 17-24). Since the inflow of consumers in the VFR market is low, the prospects of generating substantial revenues are much less compared in comparison to major tourism markets. This discourages managers of popular tourist destinations from investing enough time and effort into this market segment and including it in their tourism marketing strategies (Jackson, 2003, p. 17-24).

Apart from this, there is another factor that discourages managers of popular tourist destinations to attract the VFR market. Visitors, friends and relatives who travel long distances and several air miles to visit their relatives and close ones usually spend very little with them. It is common for most consumers in the VFR market to spend less than a week on such visits. Moreover, these visits are usually accompanied by a low spending at the hands of the visitors (Lehto et al., 2001, p. 201-212). This is mostly because the purpose of these visits is usually social bonding so that the visitors spend most of their time with their relatives. Therefore, such consumers avail very few facilities provided by tourism managers.

However, whether managers of popular tourist destinations should spend time and money to attract the VFR market can be determined by considering the following ...