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6. VFR Travel: Why Marketing to Aunt Betty Matters

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Family Tourism
This chapter is in the book Family Tourism
816 VFR Travel: Why Marketing to Aunt Betty MattersElisa BackerIntroductionFamilies often have particularly strong needs to travel to reconnect with friends and family. When there is the birth of a baby, family members typically want to visit to see the new arrival. Close friends will do likewise. Similarly, regular trips are often planned to observe significant milestones of the child as well as to ensure a bond forms with that child. Thus the very nature of having a family lends itself to visiting friends and relatives (VFR). Travel for births, birthdays, significant achievements, graduations, weddings and other special events is important for families. These types of travel – celebrations of milestones and events – are forms of travel that are not as susceptible to economic downturns as leisure-based travel. When the economy tends towards recessionary conditions, people’s confidence often declines. Purchases such as holidays can be forsaken, regarded as a luxury that is not necessary. However, the mind-set for many forms of VFR travel – funerals, weddings, graduations and reconnecting socially – is different. Some people may feel that they do not need a holiday; those same people may feel that they do need to be at their niece’s wedding, their father ’s funeral, their daughter ’s graduation. Those people will often not question whether they should go. They may not even consider the best flight deals. The thinking underpinning VFR travel is different to leisure-based travel and so VFR travel may not be as vulnerable to changes in the exchange rate, economic conditions and seasonality. Given the importance of VFR travel for family tourism and its economic stability, it is useful to consider the relative merit of tourism practitioners essentially ‘marketing to Aunt Betty’. This chapter therefore discusses an essential aspect of family tourism. It begins by reviewing the literature and goes on to describe a study undertaken in the state of Victoria, Australia.
© 2019 Channel View Publications Ltd, Bristol/Blue Ridge Summit

816 VFR Travel: Why Marketing to Aunt Betty MattersElisa BackerIntroductionFamilies often have particularly strong needs to travel to reconnect with friends and family. When there is the birth of a baby, family members typically want to visit to see the new arrival. Close friends will do likewise. Similarly, regular trips are often planned to observe significant milestones of the child as well as to ensure a bond forms with that child. Thus the very nature of having a family lends itself to visiting friends and relatives (VFR). Travel for births, birthdays, significant achievements, graduations, weddings and other special events is important for families. These types of travel – celebrations of milestones and events – are forms of travel that are not as susceptible to economic downturns as leisure-based travel. When the economy tends towards recessionary conditions, people’s confidence often declines. Purchases such as holidays can be forsaken, regarded as a luxury that is not necessary. However, the mind-set for many forms of VFR travel – funerals, weddings, graduations and reconnecting socially – is different. Some people may feel that they do not need a holiday; those same people may feel that they do need to be at their niece’s wedding, their father ’s funeral, their daughter ’s graduation. Those people will often not question whether they should go. They may not even consider the best flight deals. The thinking underpinning VFR travel is different to leisure-based travel and so VFR travel may not be as vulnerable to changes in the exchange rate, economic conditions and seasonality. Given the importance of VFR travel for family tourism and its economic stability, it is useful to consider the relative merit of tourism practitioners essentially ‘marketing to Aunt Betty’. This chapter therefore discusses an essential aspect of family tourism. It begins by reviewing the literature and goes on to describe a study undertaken in the state of Victoria, Australia.
© 2019 Channel View Publications Ltd, Bristol/Blue Ridge Summit

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents v
  3. Figures ix
  4. Tables xi
  5. Contributors xii
  6. Foreword xvii
  7. 1. Introduction: Families in Tourism Research 1
  8. Part 1. The Context of Family Tourism
  9. 2. Society and Ideology: Changes in Family Time Perceptions with Implications for Tourism 17
  10. 3. Demography and Societal Change 30
  11. 4. UK Family Tourism: Past, Present and Future Challenges 50
  12. Part 2. The Experiences of Family Tourism
  13. 5. The Inclusion of Fathers, Children and the Whole Family Group in Tourism Research on Families 67
  14. 6. VFR Travel: Why Marketing to Aunt Betty Matters 81
  15. 7. The Value of Social Tourism for Disadvantaged Families 93
  16. 8. The Stress of the Family Holiday 105
  17. 9. Gay and Lesbian Families and Tourism 125
  18. Part 3. The Futures of Family Tourism
  19. 10. Consumer Kids and Tourists – Creatively Marketing a City to Young Tourists 143
  20. 11. Investigating the ‘Family Life Cycle’ Model in Tourism 156
  21. 12. The Future of Family Tourism: A Cognitive Mapping Approach 171
  22. Index 194
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https://doi.org/10.21832/9781845413286-010

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents v
  3. Figures ix
  4. Tables xi
  5. Contributors xii
  6. Foreword xvii
  7. 1. Introduction: Families in Tourism Research 1
  8. Part 1. The Context of Family Tourism
  9. 2. Society and Ideology: Changes in Family Time Perceptions with Implications for Tourism 17
  10. 3. Demography and Societal Change 30
  11. 4. UK Family Tourism: Past, Present and Future Challenges 50
  12. Part 2. The Experiences of Family Tourism
  13. 5. The Inclusion of Fathers, Children and the Whole Family Group in Tourism Research on Families 67
  14. 6. VFR Travel: Why Marketing to Aunt Betty Matters 81
  15. 7. The Value of Social Tourism for Disadvantaged Families 93
  16. 8. The Stress of the Family Holiday 105
  17. 9. Gay and Lesbian Families and Tourism 125
  18. Part 3. The Futures of Family Tourism
  19. 10. Consumer Kids and Tourists – Creatively Marketing a City to Young Tourists 143
  20. 11. Investigating the ‘Family Life Cycle’ Model in Tourism 156
  21. 12. The Future of Family Tourism: A Cognitive Mapping Approach 171
  22. Index 194
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