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Cultural Effects on Inbound Tourism into the USA: A Gravity Approach

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  • Christoph Vietze

Abstract

This paper addresses the effects of cultural, and particularly religious, factors on tourist flows into the USA, the world's most popular tourist destination. To estimate this empirically, the author runs an augmented gravity equation. The results provide evidence that cultural proximity between country of origin and country of destination has positive effects on the tourism flows between those countries. In particular, after controlling for a set of geographical variables, more people from countries with the same language (English) and high governmental rankings comparable to that of the USA travel to the USA for holidays than people from other countries. Above all, there is strong evidence that tourists from Christian countries prefer the USA as a holiday destination much more than people from other countries. This finding is stable across model specifications and supports the argument that people wish to go on vacation to countries with similar cultural and political backgrounds to their own.

Suggested Citation

  • Christoph Vietze, 2012. "Cultural Effects on Inbound Tourism into the USA: A Gravity Approach," Tourism Economics, , vol. 18(1), pages 121-138, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:toueco:v:18:y:2012:i:1:p:121-138
    DOI: 10.5367/te.2012.0100
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    1. Leonard Dudley & Ulrich Blum, 2001. "Religion and economic growth: was Weber right?," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 11(2), pages 207-230.
    2. Andreas Freytag & Christoph Vietze, 2013. "Can nature promote development? The role of sustainable tourism for economic growth," Journal of Environmental Economics and Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 2(1), pages 16-44, March.
    3. Takatoshi Ito & Anne O. Krueger, 1997. "Regionalism versus Multilateral Trade Arrangements," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number ito_97-1.
    4. Bergstrand, Jeffrey H, 1989. "The Generalized Gravity Equation, Monopolistic Competition, and the Factor-Proportions Theory in International Trade," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 71(1), pages 143-153, February.
    5. Tiago Neves Sequeira & Carla Campos, 2007. "International Tourism and Economic Growth: A Panel Data Approach," Springer Books, in: Álvaro Matias & Peter Nijkamp & Paulo Neto (ed.), Advances in Modern Tourism Research, chapter 0, pages 153-163, Springer.
    6. Willem A. Naudé & Andrea Saayman, 2005. "Determinants of Tourist Arrivals in Africa: A Panel Data Regression Analysis," Tourism Economics, , vol. 11(3), pages 365-391, September.
    7. Christoph Vietze, 2011. "What's Pushing International Tourism Expenditures?," Tourism Economics, , vol. 17(2), pages 237-260, April.
    8. Bergstrand, Jeffrey H, 1985. "The Gravity Equation in International Trade: Some Microeconomic Foundations and Empirical Evidence," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 67(3), pages 474-481, August.
    9. Heath, W. C. & Waters, M. S. & Watson, J. K., 1995. "Religion and economic welfare: An empirical analysis of state per capita income," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 129-142, June.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    international tourism; cultural factors; religion; USA;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • L83 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Sports; Gambling; Restaurants; Recreation; Tourism
    • Z12 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Religion

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