In pursuit of happiness: Impact of the happiness level of a destination country on Chinese tourists' outbound travel choices

Authors

Ziyao Huang
Sam Huang, Edith Cowan UniversityFollow
Yang Yang
Ziyan Tang
Yutao Yang
Yijun Zhou

Author Identifier

Songshan (Sam) Huang

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4990-2788

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Title

International Journal of Tourism Research

ISSN

10992340

Publisher

Wiley

School

School of Business and Law

RAS ID

32376

Funders

Funders listed at:

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jtr.2421

Comments

This is an author's accepted manuscript of:

Huang, Z., Huang, S., Yang, Y., Tang, Z., Yang, Y., & Zhou, Y. (2021). In pursuit of happiness: Impact of the happiness level of a destination country on Chinese tourists' outbound travel choices. International Journal of Tourism Research, 23(5), 713-725. https://doi.org/10.1002/jtr.2421

Abstract

This study examines the impact of the national happiness level of a country on Chinese tourists' travel choices using panel data of 113 countries from 2012 to 2017, controlling for other factors that contribute to Chinese outbound tourism. The results show that the happiness level of a destination country is positively and significantly associated with Chinese tourist arrivals in that country. Examination of the moderation effect reveals cultural distance plays an important role in the impact a destination's happiness level has on Chinese outbound tourism. The influence of a destination's happiness level decreases when the cultural distance increases.

DOI

10.1002/jtr.2421