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This exploratory study aims to integrate both quantitative and qualitative methods to examine the influence of contemporary university dining attributes and practices on student patronage.

First, a review of the extant literature on-campus dining in universities was conducted. Second, innovative practices of on-campus dining facilities of a large public university were identified. Finally, student perceptions of those practices were examined using a mixed method approach.

The review of literature uncovered 49 articles across 35 years on key topics such as food waste, healthy eating, and service evaluation. From site tours and interviews with related personnel, 40 innovative on-campus dining practices were identified.

Importance ratings revealed cleanliness of the environment, fresh fruit and vegetables, and digitally enabled ordering, as the top three highest rated practices. Factor analysis unveiled six factors that students find important: food diversity, good standards, innovativeness, quick options, menu variety, and fish and seafood. The thematic analysis further revealed four overarching themes (convenience, familiarity, food offerings, and value) and 13 subthemes which complemented the quantitative results.

In addition to shedding post-pandemic light on students’ dining needs, it highlights the paucity of theory used to support extant studies and suggests a novel theoretical underpinning.

This theme issue aims to explore the depth and breadth of automation and artificial intelligence’s (AI’s) impact on the hospitality and tourism industry.

The thematic examination of the articles presented in this theme issue highlights the central results concerning the strategic inquiry, especially regarding their addition to knowledge, which is vital for fostering idea creation and theoretical research beneficial to various stakeholders in the tourism and hospitality sector. Given the swift evolution of these technologies, grasping their utilization, advantages and obstacles is essential for industry experts, decision-makers and scholars.

This theme issue encapsulates the transformative impact of automation and AI in the tourism and hospitality industry, highlighting the juxtaposition of enhanced operational efficiency against employment security concerns. It emphasizes the need for ethical governance to address AI’s ethical dilemmas and security vulnerabilities. The exploration of consumer attitudes towards AI, particularly in service robots and facial emotion recognition technologies, is deemed crucial for leveraging AI’s full potential in service delivery. Furthermore, AI’s entry into gastronomy prompts a reevaluation of traditional culinary practices, advocating for a balance between technological innovation and the preservation of cultural heritage.

This theme issue stands out for its focused exploration of the transformative effects of automation and AI within the hospitality and tourism industry. Unlike broader discussions on technology in business, it delves into specific AI-driven innovations, operational changes and the resultant shifts in consumer behavior and industry standards. By curating a collection of empirical research, theoretical analyses and content analyses, this issue is providing important insights into how automation and AI are reshaping service delivery, management practices and strategic decision-making in an industry characterized by its intense customer focus and reliance on human-to-human interaction.

Extended research efforts have been dedicated to understanding how different aspects of online surveys impact the response rate and quality of collected data. With the hope to yield higher response rates, leading survey software solutions (e.g., SurveyMonkey, Qualtrics, QuestionPro) introduced a new technique of embedding a question from an online survey into invitation emails sent to the respondents. The purpose of this chapter is to examine the impact of embedded questions on survey response rate and quality. The results of two experimental studies show that respondents are more likely to respond to a survey with an embedded question compared to an email without one. No statistically significant differences were discovered regarding data quality that was assessed via survey completion rate, respondent bias, and attention check questions. The chapter provides suggestions and guidelines for increasing online surveys' response rate and quality.

This first chapter provides an overview of all the chapters included in this book. This book focuses on contemporary research methods in hospitality and tourism. Revisiting the traditional research methods is necessary for academia and practitioners in the hospitality and tourism field. New understandings and interpretations of traditional research paradigms such as positivism and interpretivism as well as more recent paradigms such as realism and pragmatism in the context of hospitality and tourism are vital to strengthen the research practices. We hope that the edited book can help researchers and practitioners in our field in their research journeys and applications.