What the Heck is VFR?
The Tourism industry is full of acronyms and VFR is one of them. It stands for Visiting Friends and Relatives. It is a type of visitor who might stay at a family home, but often stays at lodging or nearby Airbnbs. They are valuable for several reasons:
- They can be repeat visitors
- Family and friends can come at any time of the year
- It is easy to target your residents who host friends and family
- They tend to stay multiple nights
- Destinations with Colleges and Universities have a VFR element for families visiting students
A Post Covid Trend
A recent TravelPulse article suggests that ” people’s desire to reconnect, in person, with family and friends is potentially even greater than their pent-up longing for leisure getaways.” And that makes sense. I am sure there are a few people in your life that you haven’t seen in the past year and would like to get together and give them a big hug! The article also states:
GlobalData’s forecasts suggest that visiting friends and relatives (VFR) travel will experience higher growth, with a 17-percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between 2021-25, compared to leisure, growing at a 16.4-percent increase between the same time period,” said Johanna Bonhill-Smith, Travel & Tourism Analyst at GlobalData.
I don’t know about you, but a 17% growth rate sounds pretty good! So how can you capitalize on this and what are some of the benefits of more VFR visitors?
Destinations
Your residents can be your best ambassadors. Have a contest on social media where locals post pictures of their favorite spots to take guests. Maybe a restaurant, a little known hiking trail, or the perfect spot with homemade ice cream? Then create a checklist of the ‘Top 10 Most Popular spots to take Visitors” and have it downloadable from your website.
Have residents tag you in pictures with their families as they visit these spots. Maybe show up at a few of these spots on busy weekend days and give away logo’d merchandise!
And for college towns, ask for the school to include your checklist in prospective and accepted student information. I know when I visited my kids in college that I would have appreciated that information.
How has your destination encouraged more VFR visitors? Let me know and I will include your responses in a follow-up post!
Attractions
If you sell tickets, could you sell at 10 pack to residents, or offer some kind of Frequent Visitor discount ( or incentive)? When there are several generations of a family visiting, I know that benches are a welcome sight for grandparents. Have you ever considered partnering with your destination office and have them offer a concierge type desk on busy weekends to offer guests information and other ideas for their visit?
If you have a membership component, remind members regularly to bring their houseguests. It’s a great perk of joining your organization!
Tour Operators
Do you have some popular short trips that your customers enjoy multiple times? When I worked at the Corning Museum of Glass, I loved to take time out of my day and chat with guests. It was a great way to collect data and learn, and guests were always happy to be asked about themselves.
One day I was speaking to a guest who had gotten off a bus operated by a Chinese tour operator based in NYC. This woman told me she signed up for this 2 day 1 night trip to Niagara Falls anytime she had visiting relatives and this was the third time she had been here this summer! That made me wonder if the tour operator was aware of the power of this repeat visitor, and if they rewarded or incentivized customers like this.
Perhaps you could even market some tours as ” perfect for visiting friends and family”. Whether the resident joins their guests, or just puts them in your care for the day, you have added a new customer to your database. It’s a win-win!
Restaurants
I recently traveled to Lake George in the Adirondack Mountains in NY State and was amazed at the numbers of families in large groups. When we stopped for lunch, I counted the number of multi-generational and large groups coming into the restaurant. More often than not, they were tables of 6. So to handle this market, is it easy for you to reconfigure tables quickly? Maybe a table game or crayons to keep guests busy while you are serving others? I’d love to hear how you have benefited from this market and how you have adapted.
Final Thoughts
We are all working with limited staff and resources as our industry rebounds. Targeting VFR guests is cost-effective and will bring R.O.I.( Return on Investment) more rapidly than most other markets at this point. We all need connection and tourism is the vehicle to help it happen!
How can I help you in September 2021?
Want to learn more about Group Tours? Join me on September 16th.
Sign up now for this FREE webinar where I will discuss Group Tour Tactics for our New Reality. Our industry has changed drastically in the last year and I will share some insights and strategies for finding success. This free webinar is perfect for suppliers who work with tour operators and have less than 5 years of experience, or anyone who wants to gain some new insights into the Group Tour world in 2021 and beyond.
The webinar is on Thursday, September 16th, at 11 am EST. It is free to join but you must register in advance. Click here to register. See you then and please share this with anyone who might benefit!
I have been writing weekly blog posts since 2016. My goal is To Become the Industry Leader in providing training and Educational Opportunities for Tourism Organizations and their partners. Here are some of the ways I do that:
Tourism Pro Academy. This platform was developed in 2019 as a centralized location for free resources and my paid courses. Click here to access the site for free.
Some of the current course offerings are:
- Fill Your Parking Lot: Secrets to Getting More Group Tours
- Your Network is Your Net Worth
- Time Management for Tourism Professionals
DMO’s
Are you looking for ways to provide some value to your members while we recover? Are your partners scattered over a large distance? Join organizations such as:
- SYTA,
- Circle Michigan,
- Pennsylvania Bus Association,
- Georgia Department of Economic Development and
- Visit Baton Rouge, which have hired me to educate and inform their members.
Click here for additional information on the Online Tourism Training Program.