Participant Characteristics and Economic Benefits of Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) Tourism – International Survey with Implications for Ghana
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2008
Authors
Asiedu, A.B.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
John Wiley and Sons
Abstract
This article surveys the literature on visiting friends and relatives (VFR) tourism, identifying and describing its variant forms and the main characteristics of participants. This characterisation involves a discussion on socio-demographic and economic traits as well as travel characteristics of VFR trip makers. The study further reviews VFR tourism’s economic contributions to destination areas with specific focus on foreign exchange earnings, local revenue mobilisation, multiplier effects of tourism expenditures and employment generation. This background review provides the basis for assessing the possibilities for developing a viable and sustainable VFR tourism in Ghana by highlighting and evaluating critical factors such as seasonality of VFR tourists inflows, income leakages, host and guest relationships, and destination image. Appropriate recommendations based on the above insights have been provided to enhance Ghana’s competitive edge in the promotion of this tourism category.
Description
Keywords
Ghana, Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR), Participants Characteristics, Economic Benefits, Critical Growth Factors
Citation
John Wiley and Sons, International Journal of Tourism Research, Vol. 10. pp. 609-621