Abstract
Visiting friends and relatives (VFR) travel and second homes tourism as topics of
investigations have seen an upsurge in international research over the past twenty
years. However, rarely has the conceptual link between the two issues been explored
at any great length. The purpose of this paper is to explore the nexus between VFR
travel and second homes tourism with particular reference to the Global South. The
case of South Africa provides the empirical context. It is revealed that VFR travel
and second homes in South Africa must be understood in terms of two circuits. The
first circuit, mainly of affluent whites, mirrors the experiences of the Global North
with VFR travel linked to recreational second homes. The second circuit shows the
experiences of the Global South where working class residents migrate between first
and second homes through circular migration as a consequence of labour migration.