The Connection Between Cultural Tourism and Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) Tourism from Immigrant Hosts' Perspectives

The objective of this study is to discover and discuss the link between cultural tourism and VFR tourism from immigrant hosts’ perspectives. The grounded theory approach is applied, and a theoretical sampling technique is used for data collection and analysis. The data have been collected from Bangladeshi origin adult immigrants living in GTA. The study has found that hosts influence their VFR travelers in their visits and exploration of destination, practices and behaviour of people and their way of living. The result has also showed that the exploration of culture and the influence of hosts may turn their VFR travelers to cultural tourists. Finally, the study proposes a VFR-Cultural tourism continuum to explore the transition from VFR tourism to Cultural tourism and vice-versa. The study findings have practical significance as VFRs can be a unique form of travelers particularly after the COVID-19 situation, the visitors may likely make social connections and VFR tourism may act as a strategic alternative to tourism recovery.