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This research provides a bibliometric review of the state-of-the-art information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the context of events, and maps out an agenda for future directions on how innovations in the technological realm can help fostering sustainability in the events industry.

To explore the progress of ICTs and future applications in events, this study conducts a two-fold method of a bibliometric analysis and a modularity clustering technique based on 293 papers published in the last 30 years.

The findings offer a snapshot of the past progress to offer a glimpse into the future by formulating novel areas for research that merit attention. By interweaving the past, present and future towards sustainability, an agenda with four concrete areas for research is identified, including (1) virtual events, (2) the use of artificial intelligence, (3) big data technology, and (4) virtual reality and augmented reality in the events industry.

The current global challenges together with the rapid technological progress can particularly give rise to innovations in the technological sector. Through a bibliometric review of past research, this study offers a future research agenda of ICTs in the events sector in light of the Sustainable Development Goals. It contributes with a discussion on how to harvest the technological progress to create more sustainable events.

In search of creating an extraordinary experience for customers, services have gone beyond the means of a transaction between buyers and sellers. In the event industry, where purchasing tickets online is a common procedure, it remains unclear as to how to enhance the multifaceted experience. This study aims at offering a snapshot into the most valued aspects for consumers and to uncover consumers' feelings toward their experience of purchasing event tickets on third-party ticketing platforms.

This is a cross-disciplinary study that applies knowledge from both data science and services marketing. Under the guise of natural language processing, latent Dirichlet allocation topic modeling and sentiment analysis were used to interpret the embedded meanings based on online reviews.

The findings conceptualized ten dimensions valued by eventgoers, including technical issues, value of core product and service, word-of-mouth, trustworthiness, professionalism and knowledgeability, customer support, information transparency, additional fee, prior experience and after-sales service. Among these aspects, consumers rated the value of the core product and service to be the most positive experience, whereas the additional fee was considered the least positive one.

Drawing from the intersection of natural language processing and the status quo of the event industry, this study offers a better understanding of eventgoers' experiences in the case of purchasing online event tickets. It also provides a hands-on guide for marketers to stage memorable experiences in the era of digitalization.

Focussing on the perspective of business event leaders, this study aims to explore the future of transformative experience (TE) events, recognising a paradigm shift from organising conventional events to designing and guiding TEs in the meetings, incentives and conferences as exhibitions (MICE) context.

Using a qualitative interview-based design, insights from 20 international business events industry leaders were gathered and analysed by using thematic analysis through a multi-step process with MAXQDA.

The findings discuss the future of transformative events by identifying the paradigm shift towards TE in business events and outline key dimensions of the leader’s and team’s mindset and skills. Five design principles for TE events in the MICE sector are identified: design for change; emotionally experiential environments; personal engagement; responsibility; and transformative measurement.

The study offers a snapshot of how transformative events of the future could be designed and suggests a series of practical insights for MICE event leaders and organisers seeking to leverage events as a catalyst for intentional transformation, positive impact and long-lasting change.

The study adds to the emerging body of knowledge on TEs and contributes to an extended stakeholder perspective, namely, that of business event leaders and their teams who are instrumental in facilitating transformative events. An original framework for designing TE MICE events is offered as a theoretical contribution.

In the emerging transformation economy, there is a shift from staging memorable experiences for many to eliciting life-transformative events for one. This study aims to understand how transformative experiences can be guided and what prerequisites are needed to elicit human transformation when designing experiences. This study borrows positive psychology as a theoretical lens to explore festivals as a prime context for liminal transformative experiences in the hospitality context.

A constructivist qualitative research design was used through 31 in-depth interviews. To ensure experience recollection, memory formation and integration of the experience into long-term transformative effects, all interviewees had attended an electronic dance music festival in the past 12 months.

Guided by the positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning and accomplishments (PERMA) model, the thematic analysis revealed a series of psychological and contextual dimensions around PERMA and liminality that need to occur for transformative experiences, personal growth and self-transcendence to happen.

This study provides a guideline for event organisers and experiences designers to intentionally design and occasion positive human experiences in temporal and spatial liminal hospitality consumption contexts. Psychological and contextual dimensions are identified as critical factors in facilitating human transformation.

This paper bridges the emerging transformation economy, experience design and positive psychology. Grounded in PERMA, the study offers a novel theoretical model that serves as a framework for both transformative experience research and practical experience design.

The purpose of this paper is to indicate how conflicts in foreign business relationships are handled by small firms from a relational point of view and how these conflicts can be used by small firms in a positive way.

The paper uses qualitative study and presents the results of in-depth interviews conducted with six small, Poland-based firms.

The paper indicates the nature of conflicts in foreign business relationships from the perspective of small firms, including the sources of conflict and its outcomes. The main sources of conflict indicated include service or product quality, financial aspects of cooperation and cultural differences. The study exposes the existence of both negative (e.g. financial consequences) and positive (e.g. gaining new experience) outcomes of conflicts. It shows that positive conflict handling often constitutes a significant challenge for small firms and that the authors cannot really speak of one optimal method of conflict handling. Regardless of the method adopted, the costs involved should be taken into detailed consideration.

The paper points to actions that could be taken by small firms to handle conflicts in a way that will produce positive outcomes.

Managing international relationships is a more challenging task compared with domestic ones, especially for smaller firms. The paper exposes the impact of two categories of conflict (called day-to-day problems and severe conflicts) in a foreign relationship on small firms and considers different methods of handling the conflict situations.