The visiting friends and relatives segment has not been given much study, because the segment has been perceived as small and with no positive economic impact on destinations. This is because of the belief that VFR travelers sleep and eat at their friends’ and relatives’ houses. Lately, the definition of VFR travelers has been changing due to more studies in the area. The results of these studies have shown that the size of the segment has been underestimated, as has the economic impact the segment has on a destination. This thesis is a complement to Bischoff and Koenig-Lewis study ”VFR Tourism: the Importance of University Students as Hosts”. The purpose of this thesis is to examine how students at Umeå university affect the tourism industry in Umeå. The thesis aims to study the frequency of visits made by the students’ friends and relatives, seasonal distribution of the visits, visitor motives, and economic factors linked to these visits. The study is based on a questionnaire survey with closed-ended questions. The study was conducted through descriptive statistical analysis of the questionnaire. Results of the study indicates that the main reason for friends and relatives to visit students in Umeå is to be with the student in question. Most of the VFR travelers stay at their host’s place, with only a few percent using commercial accommodation. Instead VFR travelers have more economic impact on restaurants, shopping and nightlife.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:umu-121960 |
| Date | January 2016 |
| Creators | Kamlin, Patricia |
| Publisher | Umeå universitet, Kulturgeografi |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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