For luxury hospitality brands, standing out requires more than stunning properties and impeccable service. It demands a compelling narrative—one that connects with guests emotionally long before they arrive. The challenge is crafting and controlling this narrative when so many interactions happen online.

In a recent collaboration with the International Luxury Hotel Association, our CEO, Jascha Kaykas-Wolff, interviewed Mariya Donat, a Digital Content & Hospitality Tech Leader and former Hyatt EMEA Director. They discussed the power of brand storytelling, the impact of immersive digital assets, and the strategic use of AI to personalize the guest journey.

Owning Your Narrative in a Crowded Market

With countless travel options available, a strong narrative is what distinguishes one luxury property from another.

Brands must control their storytelling on their own platforms. Third-party booking sites often fail to capture the unique identity and aspirations of a brand. In contrast, a brand’s website is the ideal canvas to showcase the full guest experience. The goal is not just to sell a room but to inspire travel, spark imagination, and build an emotional connection. It’s about creating memories before the journey even begins.

It’s different when you showcase a product like a chair or a mug—you pick different angles, and that’s it. But here, we’re talking about experiences, which are so human and fluid. Having our narrative and everything we want to show on our brand.com to inspire customers is essential. It’s not about a push in marketing; it’s about creating memories. This simply doesn’t come across on third-party platforms the way it does on our own.

Mariya Donat

Measuring What Matters: The Digital Content Score

To help hotels tell their stories consistently across more than 200 properties in 40 countries, Mariya and her team developed the Digital Content Score for Hyatt’s luxury portfolio. This internal benchmark started with simple metrics, like the number of photos per room category, but has since become a sophisticated tool with over 100 parameters.

Today, the score evaluates content quality, not just quantity. It measures everything from SEO performance and personalization to whether visuals authentically represent the brand. For example, the team moved from static hero images to mandatory, high-impact videos on hotel homepages to better tell the property’s story.

This data-driven approach has built trust within the organization. Hotel teams see a direct link between higher content scores and increased website traffic, engagement, and conversions. As a result, properties now look forward to their quarterly scores and updates on new parameters for improvement.

And the results speak volumes:

• Increased Time on Site: Moving from static photos to videos and adding virtual tours to the website increased the time spent on the website by 80%.
• Higher Conversions: The use of these rich media assets has led to a 45% increase in conversions.
• More Qualified Leads: For the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) segment, virtual tours have been a game-changer. Planners can explore event spaces in detail, which has increased their confidence and led to a 2x increase in RFPs (Requests for Proposal).

The Power of Immersive Sales Assets

How can you help a potential guest feel what it’s like to be in a space before they book? The answer is through immersive assets like high-quality videos and virtual tours. According to Mariya, guests remember how a space feels more than its specific details. Immersive content is designed to evoke that feeling, allowing potential guests to imagine their own experiences.

With virtual tours, the same room can mean different things to different people. For me, it might be a serene space for meditation; for my husband, it’s the perfect setting for whisky and cigars. For someone else, it could be the ideal spot for a wedding proposal. When we present a space with immersive elements, we don’t dictate its purpose—we evoke emotions and let guests decide how they’ll make their own memories.

Mariya Donat

By giving guests the freedom to dream, brands can forge deeper, more personal connections.

AI and Personalization: The New Face of Luxury

Can technology deliver a truly luxurious, personalized experience? Both Jascha and Mariya believe it can—when used to enhance, not replace, the human touch. Hyatt, for example, uses AI as a powerful personalization engine, delivering the right content to the right person at the right time.

Mariya shared a compelling example: if a guest books a stay with their dog, the AI can automatically recommend dog-friendly activities, nearby pet-friendly restaurants, and special “dog” experiences at the property. This thoughtful personalization feels genuinely luxurious because it adds meaningful value to the guest’s journey.

AI can be well-used to bring augmentation instead of replacement in luxury hospitality.

Jascha Kaykas-Wolff

The scale of this operation is impressive. Hyatt’s AI has delivered over four billion personalized recommendations across its website—a feat impossible to achieve manually. This shows how technology can anticipate guest needs and provide highly relevant, valuable information.

Ultimately, technology and the human touch are not in opposition. They work together to create an unparalleled luxury experience. Storytelling is the thread that connects everything, from the initial inspiration on a website to the personalized recommendations powered by AI.

In Summary

By owning the narrative, measuring content effectiveness, and investing in immersive assets, luxury brands can create a digital journey that is as inspiring as the in-person stay. As Mariya aptly put it, “The travel experience should start the moment a guest types the hotel’s address into their browser.”