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Geographic distance has been studied extensively as an obstructer of tourism flows, whereas another distance measure, cultural distance (CD), receives less attention in tourism demand research. Using international tourist arrival data between 94 countries for the period 1995–2012, we estimate several Poisson gravity models incorporating a CD measure based on national cultural scores from the World Values Survey (WVS). Our estimation results show a negative and significant effect of CD on international tourist flows, the elasticity of which is –0.158, and the effect appears significantly smaller between countries with historical colonial linkage. Most notably, the tourism-inhibiting effect of CD began a downward trend in 2003. In particular, we find that economic globalization and technology advancement can be used to explain the declining effect of CD. Major conclusions are substantiated in a robustness check using two alternative CD measures.

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[1] In this study, the daily to submonthly weather and regional climate characteristics associated with the extreme rainfall events over the middle to lower reaches of the Yangtze River Basin (YRB-ML) during the summer of 1998 are examined using the National Centers for Environmental Prediction/Department of Energy Reanalysis-2 data and a 54-day high-resolution (i.e., Dx = 4 km) simulation with a regional climate model (RCM). As verified against various observations, the RCM reproduces reasonably well the accumulated daily to biweekly rainfall events, their generation and subsequent evolution along the Meiyu front, and especially the rainfall events over the YRB-ML during the later stage of the 1998 floods. It is found that the early stage of the 1998 floods resembles in many aspects that occurred in normal years, except for a moister-than-climate state and stronger-than-normal low-level jets (LLJs) in Southeast China, whereas the later stage exhibits two abnormal height anomalies to the northeast and southwest of the YRB-ML, facilitating convergence of northeasterly and southwesterly flows along the Meiyu front. It is also found that the Meiyu front weakens in depth and intensity as it migrates northward across and then retreats to the YRB-ML, playing less important roles in rain production. Results show different daily to biweekly rainfall characteristics at the different stages, e.g., from eastward propagation to local generation of mesoscale convective systems and periodical rain production along the Meiyu front, most of which reach their maximum intensities over the YRB-ML during the morning to early afternoon hours. Results indicate that the northeasterly moisture supply enhances the production of steady heavy rain at the later stage of the 1998 floods. It is concluded that the West Pacific subtropical high and the Meiyu front control the general areas of rain production, the lowlevel moisture supply through LLJs and mesoscale disturbances determines whether or not sustaining flooding rains would occur, and what rainfall characteristics are at the daily to biweekly timescales.

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Eastern China has experienced substantial agricultural expansion and deforestation in recent decades. We modeled the influence of land use/cover changes (LUCCs) over eastern China on the regional climate using the Weather Research and Forecasting model with the Noah-multiparameterization land surface scheme. Two 21 year experiments were performed using the same settings, except for the land use/cover data for the 1980s and the 2000s. The results showed that in northern China, decreases in the surface air temperature of approximately 0.3-0.5°C and decreases (increases) in rainfall over the lower reaches of the Yangtze River valley (southern China, northeastern China, and the Korean Peninsula) of approximately 3% (6-7%) in the summer were associated with LUCCs in eastern China from the 1980s to the 2000s. The cooling effect in northern China, which was primarily attributable to an increase in the surface latent heat flux of approximately 7.3-9.6 W m À2, weakened the land-ocean thermal contrast, suggesting the presence of a weaker summer monsoon over eastern China. As a result, rainfall over the lower reaches of the Yangtze River valley (southern China) tended to decrease (increase). In addition, the cooling effect may have produced an anomalous cyclonic circulation from the surface to the midtroposphere over northeastern China and the Korean Peninsula, resulting in increased rainfall over this area.

Purpose This paper aims to examine the effects of perceived authenticity at an independent, full-service mainstream ethnic restaurant and the moderating effects of diners’ cultural familiarity and cultural motivation on the influence of perceived authenticity on perceived value and behavioral intention. Design/methodology/approach A total of 417 self-administered questionnaires were collected from customers of an independent, full-service Italian restaurant in southeastern USA. The data analysis was performed using structural equation modeling. Findings Restaurant authenticity has a positive influence on perceived value. Respondents who are more familiar with and interested in Italian culture and food tend to attach more value to the restaurant authenticity. Respondents tend to use authenticity to convey quality judgment of the restaurant. Research limitations/implications First, this study advances previous literature on dining authenticity by incorporating cultural familiarity and cultural motivation. Second, this study extends the theoretical framework of perceived quality of ethnic restaurants by connecting authenticity perceptions and quality assessment. Practical implications Results suggest that the managers at independent, full-service mainstream ethnic restaurants should focus on the restaurants’ environment and atmospheric authenticity, especially for customers who possess cultural familiarity and cultural motivation, while also ensuring the quality of food and service. Originality/value This study makes an initial attempt at studying the role of authenticity in a mainstream ethnic restaurant context and adds to the knowledge of restaurant authenticity from the perspectives of cultural familiarity, cultural motivation and perceived quality.

The Rich Kids of Instagram (RKOI) portray luxury lifestyles on social media. The potential roles of travel and transport within these online displays of affluence have not yet been examined. This paper’s purpose is to analyse how transport modes and luxury travel are depicted and interrelated through RKOI images. Co-occurrence analyses were conducted using a data set of Instagram posts with RKOI as a hashtag (2012–2018) to visualize the roles of transport modes and luxury travel in RKOI image construction. The findings demonstrate that both energy-intensive transport modes and luxury travel, whether through air/watercraft or luxury cars, play a vital role in signaling RKOI’s self-image on Instagram, with gendered differences. The article contributes an original conceptual model of how RKOI construct their image using transport modes and luxury travel. Implications for the social normalization of carbon-intensive transport choices, coupled with luxury destinations as a backdrop, are discussed.