Paid accommodation use of international VFR multi-destination travellers.

This purpose of this paper is to explore the use of paid accommodation by international visitors who also stay with a friend or relative in another destination, and to consider the significance of residents in regional tourism activity. The study draws from literature on visiting friends and relatives (VFR) travel and multi-destination trips, and uses secondary data on international visitors to Canada to explore these themes. Results show that 14.5% of all person nights spent by international visitors to Canada in paid accommodations were attributable to people who also stayed with a friend or relative in another destination. This proportion is higher for destinations outside of the largest cities, and varies by source market. This paper has implications for destination marketers and tourism businesses as a source for reflection on drivers of their local and international business. This paper offers an original position by combining concepts from VFR travel and multi-destination trips that provides a foundation for further research in this area.