The new frontier of guest experience

How immersive technology is opening untapped opportunities for hotels to attract, engage, and convert travelers

Key takeaways

• Massive market growth: The global market for immersive travel experiences is projected to reach USD 188 billion by 2026, growing at over 26% annually, according to Technavio.
• Stronger guest engagement: AR and VR experiences increase engagement by up to 200% compared with traditional content, according to Cognitive Market Research.
• Personalization at scale: Integrating AI with immersive tech allows hotels to create tailored room previews, offers, and experiences based on guest data.
• Barriers remain: High technology costs, limited infrastructure, and privacy concerns still slow adoption, especially among independent hotels.

Extending hospitality into new dimensions

As technology reshapes how people explore the world, the hospitality industry is beginning to extend its guest experience into new, virtual frontiers. From immersive hotel tours to digital twins of entire destinations, virtual experiences are fast becoming the next competitive advantage for hotels seeking deeper engagement, higher conversion, and broader reach.

According to Technavio, the metaverse market within the travel and tourism sector is expected to reach USD 188 billion by 2026, growing at an annual rate of 26 percent. The transformation is no longer theoretical — it’s underway, driven by rapid advances in Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) technologies and the growing appetite among younger travellers for interactive, personalized experiences.

Unlocking new horizons in guest engagement

The traditional hotel website — static images, short videos, and text descriptions — is giving way to fully interactive digital spaces. Through AR and VR, travellers can now explore hotel rooms, lobbies, and local attractions in lifelike environments before booking.

McKinsey & Company describes this as the rise of “metaverse tourism” — an ecosystem where travellers interact with virtual representations of real-world places. This evolution isn’t about replacing travel; it’s about enriching it. Guests can preview destinations, attend virtual events, or explore curated cultural experiences long before they check in.

For hotels, these experiences serve as powerful marketing tools. A 2025 report by Cognitive Market Research found that AR-driven product experiences are up to 200% more engaging than non-AR equivalents. Major brands such as Marriott and Accor have already experimented with immersive previews and VR-guided property tours, reporting higher engagement and stronger intent to book.

The business case for virtual immersion

The economic argument is clear: immersive content converts. Adding a virtual tour to a hotel website’s landing page can increase direct bookings and reduce research time, as guests feel more confident in their decision.

Studies from Emergen Research show that the “metaverse in travel and tourism” market is growing rapidly, fuelled by post-pandemic demand for digital-first discovery. Hotels that adopt these technologies early gain an advantage in digital visibility and guest trust — two critical drivers in the age of AI-powered search.

Integration with AI systems further amplifies the value of AR/VR. According to Epsilon, 80 percent of consumers are more likely to purchase when offered personalized experiences. By combining data analytics with immersive environments, hotels can showcase tailored room options, experiences, and packages unique to each guest profile.

Barriers on the path to adoption

Yet, for all its promise, virtual hospitality remains unevenly distributed. The most significant barrier is technological readiness. Luxury chains and large urban properties are investing heavily in immersive tech, while smaller, independent hotels often lack the infrastructure or budget to deploy it effectively.

A recent MDPI study highlights three primary adoption hurdles:

• Technology cost and complexity: Creating high-fidelity virtual environments requires investment in both software and skilled staff.
• Consumer readiness: While Gen Z and millennials embrace virtual experiences, older travellers often remain sceptical.
• Data privacy and regulation: As hotels gather more behavioural and biometric data, transparency and security become essential.

The report recommends that hospitality businesses adopt standards inspired by GDPR and California’s CCPA to ensure guest data is processed responsibly.

The opportunity ahead

Despite these challenges, virtual hospitality experiences represent a rare opportunity for differentiation. As McKinsey notes, “the line between digital and physical travel is blurring — and brands that understand both will define the next era of tourism.”

Beyond marketing, AR and VR open doors to new revenue streams. Hotels can host virtual events, create paid digital previews, or sell immersive travel packages that complement real-world stays. Virtual experiences also expand accessibility, allowing travellers who cannot visit in person — due to cost, distance, or mobility — to engage meaningfully with destinations.

The Cognitive Market Research forecast anticipates the VR tourism market to grow by 33 percent annually through 2030, underscoring the scale of the opportunity.

Looking ahead: from reality to virtuality

As the hospitality industry transitions from physical touchpoints to hybrid experiences, the goal remains unchanged: connection, comfort, and care. What’s changing is where that experience begins.

For forward-thinking hoteliers, the journey starts long before check-in — in a virtual space where imagination meets intention. The challenge now is not whether the industry should embrace immersive technology, but how to do it with authenticity, privacy, and purpose.

In this emerging landscape, the most successful hotels will be those that see virtual experiences not as replacements for travel, but as extensions of hospitality itself — a way to welcome guests before they even arrive.

Sources:

• McKinsey & Company – Tourism in the Metaverse: Can Travel Go Virtual?
• Technavio – Metaverse Market in Travel and Tourism 2026 Forecast
• MDPI – Metaverse Tourism: An Overview of Early Adopters’ Drivers
• Cognitive Market Research – Virtual Reality in Tourism Market Report 2025
• Emergen Research – *Metaverse in Travel and Tourism Industry Report