Chapter 5 Host–guest Relationship in VFR Tourism and Sociocultural
5.2 International PhD Students as VFR Guests
5.2.1 The concept of VFR guests
As argued in the literature review, the concepts of ‘host’ and ‘guest’ need to be reconceptualised in the context of global mobility and, specifically, in the VFR tourism context. Further, within VFR tourism, the concept of VFR guests has received relatively little attention from researchers and remains an under-explored phenomenon. Confusion also results from the presence of several similar terms that are often not distinguished such as ‘VFR tourist’, ‘VFR guest’ and ‘VFR traveller’.
This study examines the concept of VFR guests specifically, how it is understood and
perceived by international PhD students. It does so by exploring what is involved in being VFR guests.
As discussed in the literature review, VFR guests were occasionally perceived synonymously with VFR travellers. Therefore, factors that are used to identify VFR travellers may also be useful in identifying VFR guests. Backer (2012, p.75) defined VFR travellers as those who either reported visiting friends and relatives as the main purpose of their trip, and/or stayed with their friends and relatives during their trip. By her definition, two ways in which international PhD students can be VFR travellers are, first, when they travel with the primary purpose of visiting friends/relatives, or, second, when they stay with their friend/relatives during their trips. With this description, the results reported in the last chapter indicate that a high proportion of the students have experienced the role of VFR travellers, (see Section 4.4.1 and Section 4.4.6), and potentially the role of VFR guests given the assumed synonymity between VFR travellers and VFR guests.
It should be noted that while the primacy of the VFR purpose (i.e., primary or secondary) and the occurrence of staying with friends/relatives could be used to differentiate types of VFR guest (or potentially VFR hosts), it is unlikely to affect the definition of VFR guest (or VFR host) role. If there were any effect on roles, it would likely be the intensity of the role that might be influenced by whether the purpose of visiting friends and relatives is primary or secondary. More specifically, VFR guests who have VFR as their primary purpose of trip may anticipate more interaction with their visited friends/relatives, compared to those whose VFR is their secondary purpose. There is also a possibility that role intensity, in effect, may change the nature of the host and guest roles. That is, one may do ‘less’ hosting with someone whose VFR purpose is secondary.
One might distinguish VFR guests from VFR travellers through their experience as a guest during their VFR trip. In particular, observations from this study indicate that being a VFR guest may actually require certain kinds of hosting by the visited people.
The term ‘VFR guest’ may entail ‘VFR traveller’ but the reverse may not be true.
That is, a VFR guest is also a VFR traveller, yet a VFR traveller is not necessarily a VFR guest. This distinction is particularly clear during the en route period when the person who is travelling to visit friends/relatives and has not, in fact, seen (and
he/she would be best described as a VFR traveller rather than a VFR guest. Because of this ambiguity, VFR guests can sometimes be considered similar to VFR travellers and, consequently, VFR travel behaviour might shape the way that VFR guests are conceptualised and categorised.
International PhD students’ expectations of their hosts as VFR guests were also discussed in the focus groups:
Researcher: What do you expect from your hosts?
Amy: Personally, I don’t usually expect too much. I guess… the most I expect is to see them at some point, hopefully they are there at least one night or something and we can catch up, but that being said, if someone has told me “I am really busy this weekend, I don’t know how much we’ll see each other”, that is fine too. But if they haven’t said anything like that, then I expect to see them. And I guess, I expect somewhere to sleep but I don’t necessarily expect a bed, it is just like on the couch or a mattress on the floor is fine. That is probably it.
Amy’s statement suggested some common expectations from being a VFR guest.
First, it was to meet (or ‘see’) the visited friends and relatives. This is unsurprising because it is likely to be the main purpose of the trip. The second expectation was related to accommodation during the trip. As shared by Amy, some VFR guests might have a presumption that their host would provide support with finding accommodation when they come to visit, whether it being provision of the actual physical space or just recommendations on where to stay. These two expectations are compatible with Backer’s definition (2012, p.75).
VFR guests’ expectations of the hosts may be influenced by culture. For instance, in a study that examines the VFR tourism phenomenon in Taiwanese culture, Tham and Raciti (2018) found that for first-time VFR guests, host families would purchase souvenirs for them and make the additional effort (that would have not been considered otherwise) to ensure a positive visiting experience for these guests. The practice of gift exchange is an important construct within Asian cultures; and, within the host – guest context, it can be considered as an extension of the act of hospitality (Tham & Raciti, 2018). People in Polynesian culture also expect a very high level of hospitality provided by their hosts (Schänzel et al., 2014).
Seeing friends and relatives, and/or staying with them are what distinguish VFR guests from conventional tourists. However, there is ambiguity around these two
aspects. First, when visiting friends and relatives happens as a by-product of the trip, it may be questioned as to whether it amounts to being a VFR guest. Perhaps, for a particular moment, they could be albeit temporarily. That, in turn, raises the possibility that the concept of being a VFR guest is, in some cases, momentary and transient. That is, when understood in terms of expectations and behaviours, being a VFR guest may depart from more structural definitions.
Second, with regard to the aspect of staying with friends/relatives, definitions of VFR tourism do not clarify the location where ‘host’ and ‘guest’ stay together, or for how long. For example, it is not clear from the literature whether or not they would still be regarded as VFR guests if the guests stay with their visited friends/relatives in commercial accommodation. Such circumstances could occur if there is space available at the booked commercial accommodation and if all participants want to spend more time together. Overall, the aspects of visiting and staying with friends/relatives–when considering the concept of VFR guests–are not always confined to a binary categorisation and, therefore, require further clarification.
In general, the results presented in this section suggest that the concept of guests in VFR tourism goes beyond the element of travelling. From the perspective of the participants, being a VFR guest could be a composite of: travelling; visiting friends/relatives and/or staying with them; and having some expectations from their host such as spending time together, and receiving a certain level of hospitality from their host (e.g., support with accommodation). This study therefore argues that the term ‘VFR guests’ is different from ‘VFR travellers’ and ‘VFR tourists’. Specifically, the term ‘VFR guests’ extends beyond the travel element of tourism and is a more appropriate term to use in the context where a host–guest relationship exists. In other words, the argument is being made that social and cultural dimensions should be incorporated into a more inclusive definition of VFR tourism than is currently the case. It should also be noted that while related terms can be useful in distinguishing nuanced differences, it is problematic if they are used as synonyms because that can obscure important differences that the terms are meant to identify. To help gain a better understanding of international PhD students as VFR guests, the next section considers their guesting experience during the course of their study.