In the theme park industry, returning visits are often considered a measure of success. Numerous parks have incorporated virtual reality (VR) technology to encourage visitors to return. This paper aims to discuss how VR can work effectively in combination with nostalgic animation content to attract visitors and promote the parks. Through interviews, the research finds that adoption of new technology only generates first-time visits. In contrast, having sophisticated, narrative-driven, high-quality content that creates an emotional attachment appears more important to visitors when enjoying attractions than simply having high-end VR technology. The findings suggest that combining existing animation content with emotional attachment and VR attractions will allow visitors to experience stronger emotional connection, enhanced presence, and deeper immersion. Interviews with experts and visitors were conducted using convenience sampling and combined with archival research. This research aims to understand the effects of adding VR technology to Korean theme park attractions, and to examine how nostalgic attributes of animation content can enhance the immersive visitor experience. Finally, this paper proposes a VR immersive experience model for theme parks, ensuring that quality-driven VR content can evoke localized nostalgia and lead to returning visits.

Knowing how to improve skiers’ experiences in ski resorts is vital for developing the ski industry. This study aims to provide a holistic understanding of the key attributes of skiers’ experiences and explore them in the context of seasonality. Based on the user-generated content of 14 ski resorts and the topic modelling and sentiment analysis method, a framework of skiing experience attributes was built. Compared with the seasonal data, the dynamic of skiers’ concerns and perceived performance was revealed. The skiers’ concerns in peak seasons and off seasons manifested different orientations. The results show that the relatively important attributes tend to have relatively low performance in the peak seasons. In off seasons, skiers emphasise non-skiing-oriented attributes. This study showcases that skier’s interests and evaluations of various experience attributes vary with seasons. The findings help to understand the skiers’ peak and supporting experiences, which could be used to build ski resorts management and seasonal hedging strategies.

Purpose: The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has completely changed the landscape of the hospitality industry. The World Health Organization does not officially recommend wearing face masks in the workplace. Wearing face masks is controversial worldwide, however it has been widely adopted in Hong Kong society. Hospitality practitioners have worn face masks to work and serve customers for almost a year long, matching the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper proposes a conceptual model of face mask effects and also discusses and evaluates the effects of wearing face masks during the pandemic.Design/methodology/approach: A convenience sampling method is employed to investigate hospitality operators using in-depth and focus group interviews with managers, front-line staff and customers.Findings: The perspectives of both hospitality practitioners and customers are included in this study. The concepts of (1) invisible care, (2) sense of safety and (3) service trust have been introduced in this study. These provide valuable insights for the service industry when facing a large-scale health crisis, now and in the future.Research limitations/implications: This paper analyzes interview data collected from 35 respondents – 14 managers, 6 practitioners and 15 customers – in order to understand the critical effects of wearing face masks during the pandemic and the perspectives of both hospitality practitioners and customers.Practical implications: For the hospitality industry, wearing face mask in service has already become a “new normal”, face mask effects might create an impact on service design, service delivery and service quality.Originality/value: The findings show that wearing face masks turns hygiene and safety into a form of invisible care in the Asian hospitality industry. Practitioners' perspective regarding the necessity of a smile is less important to Asian customers, showing a discrepancy between the two parties. Customers do not believe that service quality has dropped due to the wearing of masks, but that the level of hygiene has risen. Unlike customers, practitioners are more concerned about not providing good quality service. However, the interview data show that respondents generally agree that mask wearing is a gesture and symbol for the hospitality industry to make tangible a new form of caring, professionalism, safety concern and communication.

With the advancement of digital technology, mindfulness practices have evolved beyond traditional methods into immersive, interactive, and biofeedback-supported experiences. This study proposes the Systematic Progressive Exploration Methodology (SPEM) to examine technology-assisted mindfulness, narrowing its focus from 3,053 peer-reviewed publications (publication trends and disciplinary contributions), to 10 top-tier HCI studies (key technological tools and methodologies), and finally to 30 empirical papers (core topics and design strategies) through Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic modeling and inductive coding. The analysis identifies six core topics clustered around three primary dimensions: technological (VR as the dominant medium), physiological (four sensory designs: visual, auditory, haptic, and olfactory), and psychological (five mindfulness objectives: emotional regulation, attention, bodily awareness, targeted psychological needs, and social connection). Additionally, three intersectional areas: biofeedback technology, calm technology, and psychophysiology, highlight how these dimensions interact. From these findings, three VR-based design strategies emerge: (1) Adaptive Self-Regulation, (2) Environmental Guidance for Cognitive Ease, and (3) Bidirectional Mind-Body Regulation. These strategies contribute to immersion, care, and daily adaptability mindfulness experiences. To enhance accessibility, engagement, and efficacy, future research should explore personalization for different experience levels, kinetic meditation, and social VR practices. Overall, this review confirms the central role of VR in technology-assisted mindfulness, providing a comprehensive foundation for understanding this interdisciplinary field and guiding the development of more adaptive and inclusive interventions.