Examining Sojourners as Visual Influencers in VFR (Visiting Friends and Relatives) Tourism: A Rhetorical Analysis of User-Generated Images

Abstract

This study decodes the functions and meanings conveyed through sojourner user-generated images (UGI) and furthers the application of the theory of visual rhetoric to tourism by examining the online visual communications of sojourners—an understudied yet critical group of consumers and producers of tourism. A two-step qualitative mixed-method approach, involving expert interviews and visual rhetorical analysis of 453 sojourner UGI was adopted. Key findings resulted in the conceptualization of a theoretical framework that explains the construction of sojourner UGI. The framework identifies contemporary online visual culture, and the different frames sojourners move between (tourist, resident, home, and away) as factors that shape, and differentiate sojourner UGI from those of tourists. Collectively, the findings provide an initial understanding of sojourners as key visual influencers/online organic agents that offer destinations, specifically conurbations, the reach, relevance, and resonance in targeting the unique VFR segment, a key post-crises tourism segment.

Liminal digital birthspaces: social media and consumer proactivity for well-being

“…The concept of role transitions and transformation is characterized as interactions between the patient and the focal firm, other firms/service providers or private sources such as friends, family and other consumers (Davey et al , 2020; McColl-Kennedy et al , 2012). In this study, digital platforms allowed the women not only to gain but provide access to wider private support networks beyond the physical confinement of the birthspace, where online sharing helps in strengthening and sustaining ties (Bakri et al , 2022; Marwick, 2013). Importantly, the ease of immediate access to extended networks allowed the women and members of their extended network to engage in supportive rites, within their respective sociocultural contexts beyond the confines of the traditional birthspace.…”

“…Intimacy is an interpersonal process described as a function of multiple factors that include physical/psychological closeness and connectedness, as well as verbal/non-verbal communication (Filieri et al , 2021; Hollebeek et al , 2020; Laurenceau et al , 1998). In the context of social media, the immediacy of the interaction between parties bridges physical distances (Bakri et al , 2022). The multi-modal nature of social media permits the exchange of both verbal and non-verbal communication, that transmit user-perceived cues of “warmth, closeness or belonging” (Hollebeek et al , 2020, p.10).…”

Interrogating Racialized “Cultural Authenticity” Discourses Among Language-Learner Tourists in Australia

“…Second, our paper contributes empirical evidence obtained through fieldwork in the area of long-stay language-traveler tourism, a segment whose voices are relatively quiet in contemporary tourism studies. As Bakri et al (2022) note, sojourners are critical influencers of tourism, particularly influencing Visiting Friends and Family (VFR) tourism, which is immune to many traditional marketing approaches. Sojourners’ experiences matter since they represent a sustainable tourism segment which has shown resilience during economic downturns and an ability to negate the complications of seasonality.…”

“…This paper will be of interest to the language-school sector as well as to tourism scholarship more broadly, not least as we propose a conceptual contribution to sit alongside our practical proposal. In particular, we challenge language schools—as vehicles of cultural interpretation—to review their strategies when it comes to nurturing intercultural competence amongst language-travelers, who represent a particular type of high-value tourist with the power to influence others (through VFR tourism; i.e., Visiting Friends and Relatives; Bakri et al, 2022). The context is a high-value, under studied tourism-education hybrid that does not easily segment by visa type: young-adult, English-language-school student-tourists, who (in this study) are nationals of countries in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South America, and Europe.…”