Surrey Think Tank
Reconceptualising Visiting Friends & Relatives (VFR) Travel
- When?
- Thursday 13 June 2013
- Where?
- The University of Surrey
- Open to:
- Staff, Students
- Speaker:
- Professor Russell King and Professor John Urry
The Surrey Tourism Research Centre in the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management is proud to announce a one-day think tank on Reconceptualising Visiting Friends & Relatives (VFR) Travel. VFR constitutes a major component of travel and tourism flows, and one that is being significantly reshaped by changes in migration and mobility patterns, transport and communication technologies, and cultural shifts. Despite the importance of this topic, researchers have paid only intermittent, and largely ad hoc, attention to it. The Surrey Tourism Research Centre is therefore holding a think tank to explore the meaning, changing nature and implications of VFR travel.
The aims of this workshop are to explore new directions in VFR travel research, providing a unique opportunity to discuss future research agendas, and establish a network of researchers in this important field. The discussion will be framed by a small number of keynote presentations on particular issues, and opportunities to provide brief synopses of individual research. Our confirmed keynote speakers are:
- Professor Russell King (Centre for Migration Research, University of Sussex; Editor of Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies).
- Professor John Urry (Centre for Mobilities Research, Lancaster University; Editor of Mobilities).
We are in discussion about submitting a proposal to Mobilities for a special issue as an output of the think tank.
Contributions are welcomed from a wide variety of disciplines, in order to foster a diverse and creative discussion. Potential contributors to the workshop are invited to submit an abstract of their research (500 words max) to Hania Janta (h.janta@surrey.ac.uk ) by 31st January 2013. The number of places at the think tank will be strictly limited in order to facilitate discussion. There is no fee for attending the think tank. All contributors, other than the keynote speakers, will have short presentation timeslots to profile their research, as the aim is to maximise the general discussion time.