Visits by friends and relatives revisited: a study of host behaviour in Auckland, New Zealand

Abstract

As a generating market, visiting friends and relatives (VFR) have tended to be ignored by the tourism industry as well as being statistically underestimated in tourism statistics. The tourism industry appears to conclude, that because the VFR spend is less 'per person per day' than a holiday or business tourist, VFR are not economically significant, and therefore have generally been ignored by marketers. Yet the growth in international VFR to New Zealand from 1995 to 2001 was 8.6% per annum compared to the holiday growth rate of 3.7% per annum over the same period. The forecasts to 2008 suggest the growth in international VFR will be 6.4%. This level of growth is higher than the holiday generating market and will result in an increase in the market share of VFR from 26% to 27% of all international visitors according to the New Zealand Research Council (2002). The resident/host community, who host VFR, have in the theory been considered an important component of the tourism product, but in practice are not generally factored into the marketing mix by the tourism industry. Whilst the VFR per person per day expenditure is lower than the holiday visitor, their overall expenditure per trip can be as high as some holiday visitors, because VFR tend to stay longer than other generating markets. The VFR spend less on commercial accommodation, but similar levels on all other expenditure, as the holiday visitor. This means all tourism industry operators other than the accommodation sector should be marketing to the VFR, either through their resident/host community or directly at the same intensity as they promote to the holiday generating market. The VFR are possibly easier to reach than other generating markets through the people who host them: the resident/host, who according to McKercher (1995) are the key to understanding the VFR. This thesis endeavours to improve the understanding of the hosting behaviour of the resident/host community of the Auckland Region in the context of their hosting and guiding of their VFR. More specifically, the research set out to ascertain what are the determinants that differentiate the resident/host typology in relation to their hosting behaviour of their VFR, and the level of VFR visitation to the Auckland Region. The research was conducted in April 2002, and related to the hosting undertaken by the resident/host community of the Auckland Region, over the previous year. Quantitative questionnaires were administered by interviewers in 'face to face' interviews of 600 residents. The research has identified four distinctive host typologies and three determinants that provide differentiation between resident/host. The research also provides an estimate of the level of VFR, providing statistical confirmation the VFR are as a generating market understated by at least half.