The hotel guest questionnaire: an assessment of its role as a service encounter interface

This exploratory study on hotel stakeholder behaviour uses a \u27service innovation\u27 approach to investigate how the hotel guest questionnaire can function in a way not previously considered in the hospitality management literature. viz as a remote service encounter interface between the hotel management and guest. The paper-based guest questionnaire. also commonly known as comment card. is an old hotel tradition that is the most widely used method or guest feedback elicitation by hotels. Primarily a method of measuring guest satisfaction. studies show that its inherent limitations as a survey Instrument result in inaccurate and ungeneralisable data. The trend for e-based questionnaires as a complement to or even a replacement of. The paper questionnaire provides timely impetus for re-evaluation of its role in contemporary hotel management

Natural and anthropogenic forest fires recorded in the Holocene pollen record from a Jinchuan peat bog, northeastern China

Pollen and charcoal particles from a Jinchuan peat (northeastern China) were examined to investigate the fire origin and interaction between climate, vegetation, fire and human activity during the Holocene. Pollen results show that: (i) a broadleaved deciduous forest was dominant during the early Holocene; (ii) from ~5500 cal. yr B.P. there was a gradual increase in coniferous trees (mainly Pinus), and a decrease in broadleaved deciduous trees (e.g. Quercus, Juglans, and Ulmus–Zelkova); (iii) after ~4200 cal. yr B.P., the deciduous forest was replaced by a mixed forest of coniferous and deciduous trees; (iv) coniferous trees including Pinus, Abies and Picea further increased after ~2000 cal. yr B.P., reflecting a cooler and drier climate after ~5500–4200 cal. yr B.P. Two layers of abundant microfossil charcoal particles (250–10 μm) and the coexistence of macrofossil particles (N2 mm) suggest two local fires: fire event 1 (5120±66 cal. yr B.P.) and fire event 2 (1288±8 cal. yr B.P., AD 662±8). Charcoal layer 1, with a large amount of Monolete psilate spores, is superimposed on the long-term trend of vegetation changes, indicating a natural origin for fire event 1 that was probably facilitated by drying environmental conditions since the mid-Holocene. Cerealia-type pollen and a low percentage of Monolete psilate spores were observed in charcoal layer 2, indicating that fire event 2 was caused by clearing. We suggest that fire event 2 may be related to the spread of the Han farming culture accompanied by the territorial expansion of the Tang Dynasty to the studied area in AD 668

The hotel comment card: A motivator of guest satisfaction

This paper explores the traditional pen and paper hotel comment card (HCC) from the guests’ perspective to gain an insight and to improve its effectiveness. The HCC has long been the predominant method of soliciting guest feedback. Although electronic methods of collection are now available the HCC has a sense of familiarity, has general acceptance, and is widely employed. Initially, a literature review of the hotel comment card is provided. Then, the study explores how frequent guests categorize HCC attributes. These attributes are then extended to include evaluation criteria identified in the literature and desired by hotel managers. The extended evaluation criterion is then used to explore how frequent hotel guests believe that future HCCs may motivate guests to provide feedback and assist in the co-­‐‑creation of value. The overall finding is that the HCCs design and execution can be improved

Fingerprinting to Identify Repeated Sound Events in Long-Duration Personal Audio Recordings

Body-worn solid-state audio recorders can easily and cheaply capture the bearer's entire acoustic environment throughout the day; we refer to such recordings as "personal audio". Extracting useful information, and providing access and navigation tools for this data is a challenge; in this paper we investigate the use of an audio fingerprinting technique, originally developed for identifying music recordings corrupted by noise, as a tool to rapidly identify recurrent sound events within long (multi-day) recordings. The fingerprinting technique is based on energy peaks in time-frequency, largely removing framing issues and making it intrinsically robust to background noise levels. We show that the technique is very effective at identifying exact repetitions of structured sound (such as jingles and electronic telephone rings) but is unable to find repeats of more 'organic' sound events such as garage door openings

Angular kyphosis as an indicator of the prevalence of Pott's disease in Transkei

To understand better the prevalence, distribution and major causes of sagittal spinal deformity in a rural homeland, the authors conducted a study of angular kyphosis in the spines of 2 329 Transkei patients. Thirty one (1,33%) had angular kyphosis. Lateral chest radiographs were obtained from 22 of these patients. Radiographic kyphotic angles ranged from 280 to 1300 (mean: 70,3 ± 7,6). The vast majority (81 %) demonstrated classical clinical and/or radiographic findings of tuberculous aetiology. Less frequent aetiologies included fractures (2), osteoporosis (1), congenital malformation (1) and kyphosis of unknown origin (2). Eleven of the kyphotic patients were seeking care for unrelated problems and were asymptomatic in respect of their kyphoses. As a subset, the asymptomatic individuals demonstrated a similar aetiological distribution, with 73% strongly suggestive of tuberculous aetiology. The prevalence of asymptomatic angular kyphosis in this unselected Transkei patient population was 0,47% ± 0,14%. In this hospital-based study, angular kyphosis proved a valuable marker for spinal tuberculosis. Because tuberculous spondylitis is more successfully treated when detected early, spinal palpation should be included in the routine physical examination of patients or populations at risk for tuberculosis

New Hosts for Lymphocystis

Lymphocystis disease is reported for the first time from the Koran angelfish, Pomacanthus semicirculatus; the Moorish idol, Zanclus canescens; the foureye butterflyfish, Chaetodon capistratus; and the orbiculate bat fish, Platax orbicularis. Also, lymphocystis is reported the second time from the queen angelfish, Holacanthus ciliaris. All hosts are commercially important exotic aquarium fishes

Tanaidacea (Crustacea: Peracardia) of the Gulf of Mexico. II. The Occurrence of Halmyrapseudes bahamensis Băcescu and Gutu, 1974 (Apseudidae) in the Eastern Gulf with Redescription and Ecological Notes

Halmyrapseudes bahamensis Băcescu and Gutu, 1974 is reported from two localities in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. A redescription is presented based on examination of type material and a large collection of Gulf specimens. Ecological notes are presented on the occurrence, seasonality and distribution of H. bahamensis in two tidal marsh systems near St. Marks, Florida. The taxonomic status of H. bahamensis in relation to the two other described species of Halmyrapseudes is discussed

Tanaidacea (Crustacea: Peracardia) of the Gulf of Mexico. I. Introduction and an Annotated Bibliography of Tanaidacea Previously Reported from the Gulf of Mexico

A brief summary of the biology and a historical review are presented for the Tanaidacea. An annotated bibliography is provided for published reports and records of Tanaidacea from the Gulf of Mexico