Enhancing Tourist Satisfaction Through the 4As Framework and Digital Engagement: Lessons from Serbia

This paper studies the connection between the 4As factors and tourist satisfaction and evaluates the impact of digital interaction that can either strengthen or weaken the effect of these factors. The study has been conducted in five major tourist destinations in Serbia with 577 tourists as the sample, who used high category hotels. Bayesian statistics allowed a specific evaluation of the effects of predictors and the effects of moderation. The findings reveal that all the 4As determinants are important predictors of tourist satisfaction with attractions and amenities playing the strongest roles. Digital interaction: Digital interactions will become a major mediator of its presence, with an amplification of the effect of ancillary services and accessibility in the case of attractions and amenities, and a dependent effect on the perceptions of authenticity and technological literacy by the tourists. The research is relevant to the theoretical discussion on the impact of digitalization in tourism because it extends the concept of the 4As framework by providing it with a digital aspect. Practical implications show that there is a necessity to introduce a balance between digital and physical aspects of the tourist experience to maximize visitor satisfaction.