Abstract
A number of events may negatively affect one's holidays abroad - problems while travelling, or problems with national cultures. National culture may have a big impact on holiday experiences, and so needs to be understood by tourists in order for them to have a more memorable time when on holiday abroad. If treated badly, or with contempt, tourists may be more forgiving if they realize and understand that they are in the presence of more ethnocentric and masculine cultures. If treated well, tourists may appreciate this even more if it goes contrary to national values and with regards to how foreigners are normally treated in that location. Important is that tourists do not seek confrontation with less-forgiving and more power-distant cultures, such as the Chinese. This is an auto-ethnographic account of a family on an annual holiday abroad, for leisure purposes. Auto-ethnography is used to analyze certain situations which occurred during the Summer holidays of 2017, with the lead author and his family while on a trip from Portugal to Australia, passing through Spain on the way out and Hong Kong and the UK on the way back. Despite very memorable experiences, problems with the deadly Typhoon Hato and the Tropical Cyclone Pakhar resulted in a degree of apprehension by the lead-author and his family and a desire to stay at home for an indefinite period, before going on holiday (to far-away places) again. So, despite a need for an innovative experience while on holiday, certain negative occurrences (or life-changing experiences) may act against similar trips happening in the future. Being more culturally aware may result from a training scheme or a communication program - which may be undertaken at the national level. Finally, let it be stated that examples of welcoming people, as well as the opposite, were found in Spain, Australia, and Hong Kong. While this research seeks to show certain prevalent characteristics of national cultures, there will always be exceptions and so travellers should keep an open mind.

Abstract
Traditional e-Commerce platforms tend to mimic existing physical store processes in which customers are given the opportunity to purchase only the available products without any type of personal customization or even without the possibility of being allowed to present a desired product/service to which the market might be able to respond. With this in mind, a prototype for an electronic negotiation platform directed at the tourism sector has been developed and focused on Douro Valley tourism operators, products and services. In our opinion this prototype might help to develop new business models drawn from the customers' willingness to have a personal tourism experience and not just something off the shelf.

Abstract
As higher education evolves into a multifaceted and complex activity, the incorporation of education management information systems (EMIS) that allows for the production of relevant, organized and structured information, becomes a necessity for both institutions and students. Despite the recognition of this requirement, existing literature does not focus on how EMIS might trigger students' success. With this in mind, an initial proposal of a multi-perspective EMIS success model is presented and a validation on the possible existence of linear correlations between the model contexts is described. Moderate correlations have been detected between the majority of the model contexts and a very strong correlation has been detected between students' satisfaction and the arise of net benefits associated with the use of EMIS.

Abstract
We have sought to understand the current state of the art on smart tourism and on smart cities. Furthermore, we have sought to understand community awareness and the will to embrace innovation, as they are decisive factors to acquire base knowledge and overcome barriers in (soon to be) overpopulated cities and for those who are looking for a limited time culture experience - known as tourists. We live in an age where technology is increasingly present in our lives and provides us solutions to societal problems. Problems such as traffic, infrastructure and natural resources management, or even increasing citizens’ participation in governance, bringing them closer to decision-making. The objective is to understand the current level of people’s knowledge about the impact that technologies have on the society in which we live and their perception of the usefulness in solving these same problems. Therefore, an anonymous questionnaire was carried out (176 valid answers were received), as well as a focus group with two experts on the Smart Cities subject. What future is brought by those who live and breathe technology? Are people willing to accept a paradigm shift?. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019.

Abstract
Collecting, storing, integrating and transforming data, together with the problem of security and privacy, are topics that present great challenges for society. The needs of the industry in general and agri-food in particular in the mushroom production sector, due to their specificities, requires the adoption of emerging technologies to make them more productive and more competitive in this global market. In this type of industry it is important, and essential, the control of the environmental variables of the production areas and the way they are presented, because the information associated with these variables would provide an important complement to the established production control system. In this paper we propose a conceptual approach for an extension to a mushroom farm distributed process control system with IoT and blockchain integration that not only allows to collect distributed data on the environmental indicators inherent to the mushrooms production, but also complement the already existent production control system, which is extremely important for the overall success of the farm management information system used by the group managers. © 2019, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Abstract
The interest in technology allied to household chores has been growing exponentially. Robots like Bimby have revolutionized the way of cooking, since they perform several functions, which were once done manually. How do users of kitchen robots see this continuous evolution and what is the impact on their routines? What are the main advantages associated with this technology and how do non-users see them? This study is a focus on the variables gender, quality of life and technological evolution, as a way to determine if women and men use kitchen robots on an equal scale, if the potentialities of these machines contribute to real improvements in the lives of their users and if, in a near future, this technology will replace the human element in the preparation of meals. To answer these questions, two methodological approaches were followed: quantitative (via questionnaires) and qualitative (via interviews and a focus group). The first approach allowed us to conclude on the profile of kitchen robots and their impact on people’s quality of life. The second approach led us to understand the interest of suppliers, and whether the interest is to help human beings or to replace their role altogether in the kitchen. With this study we conclude that kitchen robots have effectively brought improvements in terms of time spent with household tasks, the typical user of this technology is indeed a woman and, finally, that it will be difficult for a robot to replace humans entirely, since anyone who really likes to cook will never stop doing it. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019.