Elisa Backer - extended research

Research

Research interests

Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) travel, quality of life, destination marketing, and social media.

FOR code: 1506

Elisa is currently studying her second PhD in the area of Family violence, the thesis is titled "Victims of Family Violence and their children: how does equal shared parental responsibility post-separation impact their quality of life?"

Publications

Refereed papers

Backer, E. & Weiler, B. (2017). Travel and Quality of Life: Where do socio-economically disadvantaged individuals fit in? Journal of Vacation Marketing.

Backer. E. & Ritchie, B. (2017). VFR travel: A viable market for tourism crisis and disaster recovery?, International Journal of Tourism Research.

Backer, E., Leisch, F., Dolnicar, S. (2017). Visiting Friends or Relatives? Tourism Management, 60, 56-64

Yousuf, M. & Backer, E. (2016). Hosting friends versus hosting relatives: is blood thicker than water? International Journal of Tourism Research, doi 10.1002/jtr.2098

Backer, E. & Lynch, D. (2016). Understanding the Proclivity of Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) Travel across Family Life Cycle Stages in Australia, International Journal of Tourism Research version of record online: 16 Sep 2016 DOI: 10,1002/jtr.2087

Backer, E. & Hing, N. (2016). Whole Tourism Systems: An Academic Portrait of Neil Leiper, Anatolia, (published online 21 July 2016).

Backer, E. & King, B. (2016). VFR Traveller Demographics: The Social Tourism Dimension, Journal of Vacation Marketing. First published on August 29, 2016 as doi: 10. 1177/1356766716665439).

Yousuf, M. & Backer, E. (2015). A content analysis of Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) travel research, Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 1-10

Backer, E. (2015). VFR Travel: Well-known but not known well, CAUTHE Conference: Rising Tides and Sea Changes: Adaptation and Innovation in Tourism and Hospitality, February 2-6 2015, Gold Coast, Australia

Yousuf, M. & Backer, E. (2015). The Evolution of Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) Travel Research: A content analysis, CAUTHE Conference: Rising Tides and Sea Changes: Adaptation and Innovation in Tourism and Hospitality, February 2-6 2015, Gold Coast, Australia

Backer, E. & King, B. (2014). The demographic dividend of VFR travel: Evidence from Australia, Global Tourism & Hospitality Conference: Charting the new path: Innovations in tourism and hospitality May 18-20 Hong Kong

Backer, E. & Hay, B. (2014). VFR Travel in Practice: Case Studies From Victoria, Australia, CAUTHE Conference: Tourism and Hospitality in the contemporary world: Trends, Changes and Complexity February 10-13 Brisbane Australia

Backer, E. & Hay, B. (2013). Introduction: Social Media Special Issue, Tourism, Culture & Communication, 13, 1-4.

Backer, E. & Schanzel, H. (2013). Family Holidays – Vacation or Obli-cation? Tourism Recreation Research, 38(2), 159-173

Backer, E. & Barry, B. (2013).Empirical Testing of the theory of partial industrialisation in tourism, Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 20, 43-52

Backer, E. (2012). VFR travel: It IS underestimated. Tourism Management, 33, 74-79(10.1016/j.tourman.2011.01.027

Backer, E. & Barry, B. (2012). Partial Industrialisation In Tourism: Modelling Ballarat, Proceedings from the CAUTHE Conference February 6-9, 2012, Melbourne.

Backer, E. (2012). Burnt at the Student Evaluation Stake – the penalty for failing students, E-Journal of Business Education & Scholarship of Teaching, 6(1)

Backer, E. (2011). VFR Travel: How long are they staying? Tourism Review International, 14, 61-70

Backer, E. (2011). VFR travel: It IS underestimated. Tourism: creating a brilliant blend Proceedings of the CAUTHE Conference, 8-11 Feb, 2011, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. CD Rom, University of South Australia, Australia

Backer, E.(2010). VFR Travel: How long are they staying?. New Zealand Tourism and Hospitality Research Conference, 24-26 November, Auckland, New Zealand.

Backer, E. (2010). Using smartphones and Facebook in a major assessment: the student experience. E-Journal of Business Education & Scholarship of Teaching, 4(1), 19-31.

Backer, E. (2010). The relationship of VFRs with tourism industries. Challenge the limits: Proceedings of the CAUTHE Conference, 8-11 Feb, 2010, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. CD Rom, University of Tasmania, Australia

Backer, E. (2010).Opportunities for Commercial Accommodation in VFR. International Journal of Tourism Research, 12(4) 334-354

Backer, E. (2008). Visiting the destination or visiting us? A look at VFR tourism. Tourism futures Sixth National Conference: Global Market – Competitive Edge (e-conference proceedings).

Backer, E. (2008).A Semester with a 'Dr Fox': the need to go beyond SETs. E-Journal of Business Education & Scholarship of Teaching 2(1) 21-27.

Backer, E. (2008). VFR Travellers – Visiting the destination or visiting the hosts? Asian Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Research 2 (2) 60-70.

Backer, E. (2007). VFR Travel – An examination of the expenditures of VFR travellers and their hosts. Current Issues in Tourism 10 (4) 366-377.

Backer, E. (2003). VFR tourism – the forgotten tourism phenomenon. Issues and Developments in Tourism Futures. In H. Richins (ed.) Proceedings from the Second National Conference on Tourism Futures – Sustainable Growth, Strategic Alliances and Positive Futures in Challenging Times 2003 1-12.

Backer, E. (2009).The VFR Trilogy.Refereed paper in J. Carlsen, M. Hughes, K. Holmes & R. Jones (Eds). See Change: Proceedings of the CAUTHE Conference, 10-13 Feb, 2009, Fremantle, WA, Australia. CD Rom, Curtin University, WA, Australia.

Backer, E. (2008).The relationship of VFRs with tourism industries. Refereed paper in J Fountain & K. Moore (Eds). Re-creating Tourism: Proceedings of the NZTHR Conference, 3-5 Dec, 2008, Hanmer Springs, New Zealand. CD Rom, Lincoln University, New Zealand.

Books

Backer, E. & King, B. (Eds) (2015) VFR Travel Research: International Perspectives Channel View

I. Yeoman, M Robertson, U. McMahon-Beattie, E. Backer & K. Smith (Eds) (2014). The Future of Events & Festivals, Routledge Advance Series

H. Schanzel, I. Yeoman & E. Backer (Eds) (2012) Family Tourism: Multi Disciplinary Perspectives, Channel View Publications

Backer, E. (2010). VFR Travel: An assessment of VFR versus non-VFR travellers. VDM Verlag Dr. Müller (ISBN 978-3639252552)

Book chapters

Backer, E. & King, B. (2015). VFR Travel: Progressing Towards Greater Recognition in Backer, E. & King, B. (Eds) VFR Travel Research: International Perspectives Channel View

Backer, E. & Morrison, A. (2015). The Value and Contributions of VFR to Destinations and Destination Marketing in Backer, E. & King, B. (Eds) VFR Travel Research: International Perspectives Channel View

Backer, E. & King, B. (2015). Local Impacts, Global Prospects: The Future of VFR Travel, in Backer, E. & King, B. (Eds) VFR Travel Research: International Perspectives Channel View

Backer, E. (2015). VFR Travel: Its true dimensions, in Backer, E. & King, B. (Eds) VFR Travel Research: International Perspectives Channel View

Backer, E. & Hay, B. (2015 forthcoming). Implementing VFR Travel Strategies, in Backer, E. & King, B. (Eds) VFR Travel Research: International Perspectives Channel View

Backer, E. (2014). Industry Perceptions of Events Futures in Yeoman, M Robertson, U. McMahon-Beattie, E. Backer & K. Smith (Eds). The Future of Events & Festivals, Routledge Advance Series

Yeoman, I., Robertson, M, McMahon-Beattie, U., Backer, E & Smith, K. (2014). An Introduction to the future in Yeoman, M Robertson, U. McMahon-Beattie, E. Backer & K. Smith (Eds). The Future of Events & Festivals, Routledge Advance Series

Backer, E. (2012). Investigating the 'Family Lifecycle' model in tourism, in H. Schanzel, I. Yeoman & E. Backer (Eds) Family Tourism: Multi Disciplinary Perspectives, Channel View Publications

Backer, E. (2012). VFR Travel: why marketing to Aunt Betty matters, in H. Schanzel, I. Yeoman & E. Backer (Eds) Family Tourism: Multi Disciplinary Perspectives, Channel View Publications

Backer, E. & Schanzel, H. (2012). The stress of the family holiday, in H. Schanzel, I. Yeoman & E. Backer (Eds) Family Tourism: Multi Disciplinary Perspectives, Channel View Publications

Backer, E. (2010). VFR Travellers of the Future.Ian Yeoman, Cathy Hsu, Karen Smith, & Sandra Watson (eds).Tourism and Demography. Goodfellows Publishers.

Journal Editorial

Backer, E. & Hay, B. (2013) (Guest Editors). Social Media Special Issue, Tourism, Culture & Communication, 13, 1-4.

Awards and grants

• Conference paper (topic: VFR travel) was in the 'top three best papers' out of 250 papers at the Global Tourism & Hospitality Conference (May 2014, Hong Kong)
• Recipient of 'Fellows Award' (2014) by Council of Australasian University Tourism & Hospitality Education (CAUTHE) – an award given to an academic from Australia or New Zealand who is seen to have made the greatest contribution to Australasian tourism and hospitality and/or research from those who have been nominated.
• Office of Learning and Teaching citation (2013) – national award to recognise outstanding contribution to student learning
• Australian National Competitive Research Symposium (2012) (third place in Arts, education, business division at national heats)
• Award recipient of "Early Career Researcher Bursary Winner" (2012) by Council of Australasian University Tourism & Hospitality Education (CAUTHE)
• Recipient of Vice-Chancellor Teaching Excellence Award (2014)
• Five minute Research Pitch competition (first place in Arts, education and business division at local heats) (2014)
• Award recipient of VC Award to recognise outstanding contribution to student learning (2012)
• Australian National Competitive Research Symposium (2012) (equal first place in Arts, education, business division at local heats)
• Second prize – "Best oral presentation" University of Ballarat Annual Research Conference (2011)
• Award recipient of "Most Outstanding Teacher", University of Ballarat School of Business (2009)