Wednesday, March 20, 2013

New paper of VFR and community development

I've had a paper on VFR tourism and implications for community development published in the Journal of Policy Research in Tourism, Leisure and Events. The abstract is below, and the link to the article is here http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/RDYi6UXTkgrUVeSiYAzT/full. Visiting friends and relatives (VFR) tourism accounts for a substantial amount of worldwide travel, yet has received comparatively little attention regarding its impacts on sustainability. This paper provides an initial discussion that situates VFR tourism within a discussion on sustainable tourism development. The community capitals framework is used as a basis for the discussion. A review of academic literature on VFR and sustainable tourism provides the foundations for this paper. Due to the personal relationships inherent in VFR there are significant consequences regarding the social impacts of VFR tourism. Additionally, the economic implications of VFR tourism include a more stable demand, greater dispersal of spending, and engagement of residents as consumers. The ability of communities to absorb VFR tourism relative to other forms of tourism has positive indications for the cultural and environmental aspects of community development. As debates within the more recent literature consider the opportunities and possibilities for mass tourism to become more sustainable, this paper suggests that VFR could reasonably be considered a sustainable form of tourism and offers destinations a viable strategy for sustainable tourism development.

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