ABSTRACT Visiting friends and relatives (VFR) provides a context in which person–person and person–place interactions occur. This study extends place attachment theory to the VFR context by examining how rapport influences place attachment and behavioral intentions through well‐being and place satisfaction. An empirical study was conducted using a sample of 470 guests who visited South Korea using PLS‐SEM. The results indicate that rapport significantly enhances well‐being and place satisfaction. However, only eudaimonic well‐being was found to influence place attachment. Moreover, place attachment partially influenced revisit intention. The findings demonstrate how VFR strengthens host–guest relationships and how internal mental processing is involved in visit experiences and place evaluations. In particular, through eudaimonic well‐being, guests develop stronger place attachment, which partly affects revisit intention. This study advocates a more socially sustainable approach to place attachment by exploring the holistic function of VFR.
Choi et al. (2026) studied this question.