What Are the 5 A’s of Tourism?

The 5 A’s of tourism regularly pop up in the blogs and articles addressing various tourism and hospitality topics. However, the 5 A’s are often used in context, leaving you with nothing but your common sense to guess what it stands for. 

If you want to improve the image of your travel agency and keep travelers interested in your brand, the 5 A’s will be of great help. So, without further ado, we give you the 5 A’s of tourism. 

1. Attraction

Attraction is the bread and butter of the travel and tourism sector, and agencies can use photos, videos, blogs, and travelers’ experiences to paint almost anything as an attraction. Attraction can be a specific experience at a destination, food, adventure, or sightseeing tour. 

Why is it important? 

It is important because almost 70% of tourists pay close attention to attractive places to travel. 

Given that today’s global group of travelers comprises different demographics, it’s logical to see that people travel for various reasons. They can all be grouped in several categories – to seek inspiration for their work, to spend their holidays and vacation, and to relax and improve their wellbeing.

All services you provide to accommodate these needs can be turned into attractions. The most efficient way to advertise the attractions in your offer is social media, as approximately 90% of people use social media to get inspired to travel. 

You can also update your official website to make it more aesthetically pleasing. Use the space on your homepage to feature the most popular attractions every season – it can help you capture the attention of travelers and generate more sales.

2. Activities

Although activity can also be an attraction, due to how powerful they can be, activities deserve their own A in the 5 A’s of tourism. A fun activity can make an ordinary experience memorable and worth returning to. Numerous activities can delight travelers, including biking, trekking, water skiing, horse riding, etc.

According to the latest stats, over 60% of travelers are most interested in outdoor activities, while 11% of travelers are even willing to engage in high-adrenaline activities. It appears that activities attract high-income travelers as well. Around 67% of high-income travelers are more interested in spending money on activities than on a hotel room upgrade. 

Activities enable travelers to take action and create memorable experiences instead of watching idly, which is precisely what makes activities so powerful. Agencies have several opportunities to bring available travel activities into focus – for example, you can use virtual and augmented reality to give travelers a sneak peek into an activity.

3. Accessibility

As the next A in the 5 A’s of tourism, we have accessibility. Accessibility stands for how easy or hard it is for the tourist to reach the final destination and attractions. 

Accessibility has two aspects – one regarding the terms and conditions that apply in a specific country/city, and another regarding the means of transportation.

Agencies must pay close attention to the unique terms and conditions of every destination in their offer. They must inform travelers of all the critical terms and conditions they must abide by while visiting a location. For instance, while it’s completely fine to wear a summer dress when exploring Mexico City, you need to follow a strict dress code in Vatican City. 

Various regions feature different means of transportation too. For instance, in Paris, tourists will often use the metro and riverboat service to reach sights. In Venice, they use gondolas, while Turkey has quite interesting underground railways. 

In either case, if you want to create an image of a trustworthy and informative brand, you should provide all the accessibility-relevant information to your potential clients. It will help them prepare in advance and avoid unpleasant surprises while traveling. 

4. Accommodation

Accommodation is perhaps the most straightforward A in the 5 A’s of tourism to understand. It is the place where tourists stay for a while on their vacation. There are various things agencies need to be aware of when offering specific accommodations in their target markets. 

For instance, families with kids often stay at hotels and resorts. Hotels remain the most popular accommodation type. Over 64% of travelers choose to stay at hotels when traveling. Most of the travel inspiration searches start online. That’s where your agency comes in.

If you want to generate more traffic, your website needs to answer all the key questions your target customers may type into a search engine. 

For instance, you can provide information about the room availability, what amenities are included in a room, what’s on the food menu, and how far the hotel is from the most popular attractions. You can even go one step further and add reviews and ratings to enable travelers to quickly gauge the quality of any accommodation listed on your site. 

5. Amenities

The final A in 5 A’s of tourism is amenities. Amenities stand for all the additional free and paid things and services travelers can get while staying in accommodations. 

Some standard amenities include shampoos, body washes, conditioners, etc. However, travelers are becoming more and more tech-savvy with every passing year. They expect agencies and hotels to stay tuned to the latest trends.

One can easily delight travelers by providing sockets for easy device charging, chatbot assistants, personalized service, and mobile-ready services. 

You can make an additional effort and make improvements to your site. For instance, you can list all amenities at hotels available at different price ranges and enable travelers to buy additional amenities pre-arrival. 

Conclusion

The 5 A’s of tourism are attraction, activities, accessibility, accommodation, and amenities. Following the best practices can help you use them intelligently and capitalize on properly advertising your holiday packages. 

As of late, some experts are considering adding affordability as 6th A to the mix as the price is an essential factor in the traveler’s decision-making process. Fortunately, with solutions such as Hotelmize, you can offer bookings at attractive prices and still make considerable profits.