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Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate how the presence of other customers in restaurant social settings becomes a resource (referred to as “customer-to-customer interaction” or “C2CI”) to co-create an escape dining experience and stimulate dining outcomes, namely, food attachment and dining frequency. The relationships are further tested under the effects of regional economic conditions. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected by using a multi-step approach. The first data set was obtained through a personally administered survey, which included a sample of 356 Chinese tourists who dined at fine Western (i.e. Portuguese) restaurants in Macau. The second data set concerned economic statistics and was obtained from the statistics departments of mainland China and Taiwan. A multilevel design with hierarchical linear modeling was used to test the proposed model. Multilevel mediating and moderating effects were also examined. Findings The results suggest that customer escape dining experience significantly mediated the relationship between C2CI and food attachment, while food attachment fully mediated the relationship between customer escape experience and dining frequency. The multilevel effect of regional economic conditions played a significant role in moderating the C2CI–escape experience relationship in which the effect of C2CI was more salient for tourists from less economically developed regions in China. The experience–food attachment relationship was also contingent on the regional economic conditions in which the relationship was stronger for tourists from less economically developed areas. A multilevel mediating effect was also presented in the study. Originality/value The study contributes to the literature on experience co-creation in restaurant dining by exploring and testing the possibility of the presence of other customers to become a resource of experience co-creation, which is currently overlooked in the restaurant dining literature. The study advances the concept of co-creation by including the presence of other customers and restates the active role of diners in creating experiences. It also considers the existence of structural patterns in individualized experiences.

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This study draws on environmental psychological theory to reintegrate the ongoing development of "environmental" cues in the tourism event context. Existing service perception scales often commingle service quality and physical cues; thus, this study proposes their separation and redefinition, as well as tests the effect of the supportive service environment on festival program quality in the experience of participants. The moderating effect of perceived authenticity in the quality-value-satisfaction process is also investigated. The results challenge the traditional view of program quality by highlighting that the service environment is a key antecedent to the quality-valuesatisfaction framework. In contrast, the relationships among service environment, program quality, perceived value, and customer satisfaction are contingent on the extent to which participants perceive the authenticity of an event.

While Sino-Japanese relation(s) have been placed on hold since 2013, Japan has become the most desired overseas destination for mainland Chinese tourists. This study aims to understand the unexpected tourist flows of Chinese tourists to Japan seen through the lens of tourist emotions. Using a qualitative approach and netnography data, the study reveals that during their trip, Chinese tourists experience mixed feelings of resistance, admiration, welcome, embarrassment, and attachment to Japan and its people. The trip has challenged Chinese tourists' stereotypes about Japan and has stimulated their reflections on China's modernization.