The connection between VFR experience based and sociocultural dimensions of international students and mainland Chinese students

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to present the host experience of student hosts in Hong Kong, a popular educational destination for international students from mainland China and other countries. This study examines the interconnection between the experience-based and sociocultural dimensions of visiting friends and relatives (VFR) travel, considering the overall host experience, the host–guest relationship and post-hosting changes in perception of both the VFR experience and destination. Design/methodology/approach This research adopts a qualitative approach to compare the experience-based and sociocultural dimensions of VFR travel considering international university students as VFR hosts in Hong Kong, taking a student sample from both mainland Chinese and overseas students. Based on a voluntary sampling approach, the research team had face-to-face interviews with the students that agreed to participate. The interviews were conducted voluntarily and anonymously and included those students who had hosted any friends or relatives in the past 12 months. A total of 26 interviews were successfully completed, including 10 mainland Chinese and 16 non-mainland Chinese students. Findings The results confirm that the VFR host experience is generally shaped by an integration of internal characteristics (sociocultural characteristics of both hosts and visitors) and external environment (urban infrastructure and tourism resources). The two groups distinctively express their host experience that shows some areas of cultural barriers and geographical proximity. Research limitations/implications The limitations of this research mainly lie on its relatively small sample size because of constraints in accessing the contact information of international students across universities. These shortcomings should be improved by adopting a research design that uses other sampling approaches, such as snowball sampling, to include a wider scope of students from different local universities, or convenience sampling, to interview and compare responses of international students from various educational destinations. Alternative data sources may be considered, for example, through user-generated contents from online and social media platforms that contain sharing of students as hosts. Practical implications The geographical and cultural proximities influence VFR tourism development and social construction of values and the consequent hosting behaviour. The unique role of international students should be further explored, especially in the Asian context. The outcome of VFR travel must be evaluated and studied more from cultural and personal dimensions than economic gain, which should be relevant to host perspective such as improved quality of life, social ties and place attachment and psychological benefits. The changing risk perception caused by the COVID-19 pandemic may be examined through some forms of travel intention. Social implications Firstly, the destination marketing organisations of the educational destination should address the difficulty faced by student hosts in terms of external attributes such as local culture, urban infrastructure, tourism resources and information accessibility. Secondly, to target the hosts, some specific VFR-related products and services may be developed for international students through local tertiary institutions such that the role of hosts as ambassadors can be facilitated and enhanced. Thirdly, the functional role of international students can be distinctive based on their unique network, activities and knowledge constructed upon learning during the period of education. Originality/value The studentification of many educational destination cities, the dynamism of the role of international students as VFR hosts and their cultural differences between places of origin have provided an opportunity for deepening the understanding of VFR tourism.

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

“…Equally, the images in this study offer evidence to support prior research that suggests the importance of sojourners in easing cultural distinctions (Chan et al, 2022; Shani, 2013). Further, sojourner UGI in this study demonstrate that the process of cultural easing may occur even before VFR visits, where sojourner UGI act as promises of destination offerings.…”

“…Morrison, Woods, et al, 2000). First, a conceptual framework is developed, contributing to theory and extending the current VFR tourism literature (Chan et al, 2022; Colquitt & Zapata-Phelan, 2007; MacInnis, 2011; Taheri et al, 2017). The integrative framework identifies contemporary visual online culture, and the different lenses sojourners leverage: tourist, resident, home, and away, as perspectives that shape their assembly of UGI, providing an understanding of sojourners’ destination consumption and online practices.…”

“…Morrison, Woods, et al, 2000). Research in VFR tourism explicates the relationship between migration and tourism (Chan et al, 2022;Dwyer et al, 2014), casting light on the central position of migrants, such as sojourners, as "poles of tourist flows" (Williams & Hall, 2000, p. 7).…”

“…Future studies could, therefore, examine specific source countries to gain a more nuanced understanding of the images produced, the practices behind image construction, and the impact the images have on key source countries. Further, a deeper understanding of the image construction process may yield insights into potential transformative outcomes of place consumption during the acculturation of sojourners or other transnational communities, amplifying the increasingly important voices of multi-cultural transnational communities, relatively silent in contemporary tourism studies (Chan et al, 2022; Selby, 2021).…”

“…Sojourners are unique and fluid; shifting between tourist and resident; host and guest; as well as consumer and producer of tourism development and experiences (Chan et al, 2022; Choi & Fu, 2018; Selby, 2021; Taheri et al, 2017; Tran et al, 2018). Markedly, in light of their multi-locality, sojourners are crucial links that bridge destinations to personal overseas networks, making sojourners critical influencers of tourism, specifically VFR (visiting friends and relatives) tourism—a tourism segment immune to traditional promotional strategies (Backer et al, 2017; A.…”