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Volume 3 in the Advances in Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research series provides useful answers to the following questions. In what ways should data collection about tourists' activities and hospitality experiences vary within a variety of non-Western contexts (e.g., in Dubai (UAE), Peshawar (Pakistan), and Macau (China)? How do interactions between a professional sports team and its major sponsor affect brand image and brand equity for the sponsoring brand? What does ethnographic research report on long-term overseas country visits by international students? In what ways does visual narrative art inform consumer behavior theory of tourism behavior? How do consumption values affect destination image formation? What insights follow from historical research on the use of hotel guest survey methods? How does unconscious needs influence traveler's interpretations and preferences of alternative tours and hotels?

This paper reviews the literature on hotel guest questionnaires, also commonly known in the industry as comment cards. Considered a hotel tradition, the ubiquitous questionnaire remains the primary method employed by mainstream hotels to elicit and record guest feedback despite shortcomings in data reliability and response rates. Hence questionnaires play a key facilitation role in the collection of guest feedback (guest–hotel dyad in hotel communication). The paper traces the history of questionnaire utilization in the hotel industry, and examines evolutionary changes in terms of form and function. A typology of questionnaire genre is constructed. Used either independently or in combination with other methods, the traditional paper guest questionnaire has been complemented or even superseded by e-based variants. Obsolescence threatens the paper questionnaire as technology uptake permeates the hotel industry. This paper considers a “service innovation” by using the questionnaire as a communication tool along the hotel–guest dyad. A back-to-basics approach potentially yields a valuable and cost-efficient guest service encounter opportunity whilst mitigating questionnaire data deficiencies.

The case study described in this paper, concerned the Macau Grande Prix. Various research objectives were formulated and it was decided to use a face‐to‐face administered questionnaire to gather the data. The subjects were individuals (fans) who were attending this event and the questionnaire was to be administered while the event was taking place. This paper, then, will outline the issues faced when conducting this research and draw implications for future reviewers and researchers.

Purpose: An examination of the uptake and application of Robotic, Artificial Intelligence and Service Automation (RAISA) technologies by the events industry.

Design/methodology/approach: Academic and practitioner literature review and analysis pertaining to the relevance of RAISA in events.

Findings: The events industry has tended to rely on automation in staging and event production and the application of RAISA in events has been limited but holds great potential for the future. Whereas, in the hospitality and tourism industries RAISA has been applied across a range of service functions. For example, in such industries, artificial intelligence, machine learning and service robotics technologies have become commonplace. Nonetheless, the same level of adoption of RAISA in events is less evident particularly in front-of-house operation, due largely to the incompatibility with the raison d'être of event attendance – the purposive congregation of people seeking an event experience.

Research limitations/implications: The findings are the views of the authors and are therefore reliant upon existing events management literature on RAISA and their interpretation of this information and its application to the events industry.

Practical implications: RAISA has the capacity to play a crucial technical function in the events industry. However, it needs to be acknowledged that an event is essentially an experiential product which is simultaneously delivered and consumed in a particular setting/venue. RAISA applications and techniques avail event management immense sustainability and growth potential.

Social implications: Events are expressions of human social interactions and activities. Given the recent trend in sports media consumption as a substitute for live event attendance compounded by barriers to event attendance such as heightened terrorism threat and high expense/cost, there is a real risk of degradation of the social significance of the events industry. The prudent uptake of RAISA has the potential to emolliate the barriers to attendance while facilitating effective marketing and industry sustainability.

Originality/value: This chapter provides a new perspective in focusing on the potential applicability of RAISA in event management practice.

Among the complexity of issues a researcher faces in a cross-cultural setting are the differing views of cultural psyche. This paper focuses on this issue because it may be central to understanding why some research is not as valuable as other research. The paper points to the very basis of the data gathering process, that is, what data is helpful to gather, what data is possible to gather, and what data has the potential for unpacking priceless gems, which can change a process, an outlook, or even an industry.