The travel and hospitality (TTH) sector stands at a critical juncture. Global consumers consistently rank travel as their top discretionary purchase, indicating a robust demand outlook for 2026 and beyond. This economic buoyancy, combined with evolving customer expectations for hyper-personalized and seamless experiences, necessitates a strategic re-evaluation of digital experience (DX) capabilities. The Sitecore 2025 DX Maturity Report for Travel and Hospitality provides a framework for TTH brands to assess their current standing and chart a path to digital leadership.
The Strategic Imperative for Digital Excellence
The TTH industry is experiencing a growth phase, with the global economy projected to expand by 2.7% in 2025 (The Economist Intelligence Unit). This growth is significantly driven by a consumer desire for “escapism,” a trend valued at $3.1 trillion globally for travel and tourism (MW TruthCentral). With 85% of travel industry conversions occurring online, the ability to deliver relevant and personalized digital interactions is paramount . Modern travelers expect curated experiences that align with their preferences and values, akin to the personalization they receive from streaming services or e-commerce platforms . The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) projects the sector to grow 5% annually through 2030, contributing $10 trillion to global GDP by 2025. This underscores that failing to keep pace with digital expectations is no longer an option, as 68% of travelers are more likely to book with brands offering personalized experiences (Expedia 2024 Report).
What this means: TTH brands must recognize that digital experience is not merely an IT function, but a core business driver. Lagging in DX maturity will result in a widening value gap against competitors, as technology leaders continue to outpace laggards (Accenture, 2023,). Executive leaders must champion digital transformation, ensuring it is embedded in strategic planning and resource allocation.
Immediate Priorities (First 90 Days):
- Conduct a comprehensive DX maturity assessment: Utilize frameworks like Sitecore’s DXMM to identify current capabilities across dimensions such as content agility, omnichannel engagement, data and analytics, technology, and organizational culture.
- Establish a cross-functional DX steering committee: Include representation from marketing, IT, customer service, and operations to align objectives and foster collaborative ownership of the customer experience.
- Prioritize a mobile-first content strategy: Given the on-the-go nature of travel, ensure digital assets and booking flows are optimized for mobile devices, supporting real-time updates and engagement .
What to do:
- Invest in real-time personalization capabilities: Leverage AI to deliver context-aware offers and recommendations across all touchpoints, from booking to in-trip services .
- Emphasize sustainability in marketing strategies: Acknowledge growing consumer preference for eco-friendly travel options by integrating sustainability messaging authentically .
What to avoid:
- Treating personalization as a secondary objective: Only 19% of airlines and hotels dynamically change content for personalization, indicating a significant gap . Generic experiences erode loyalty.
- Operating with siloed data and fragmented systems: This leads to disconnected customer experiences and hinders effective decision-making .
Core Pillars for Digital Experience Excellence
Achieving digital maturity in TTH relies on a robust foundation across several key dimensions: Content Agility, Omnichannel Engagement, Data and Analytics, and Technology.
Content Agility Content agility measures an organization’s ability to create, manage, and deploy content quickly and effectively. In the TTH sector, 49% of marketing professionals report struggling to keep up with content demands, largely due to siloed content across various channels and business units . Achieving agility requires centralized content governance to streamline creation and delivery, ensure efficiency, and maintain a single source of truth for global teams. Customer-centric content delivered through a single platform facilitates frictionless experiences for activities such as booking flights or car rentals, and enables consistent messaging across omnichannel touchpoints. Scalability, supported by cloud-native, API-first architectures, is crucial for integrating diverse content and marketing platforms.
- What to do:
- Implement a centralized content hub: Consolidate all digital assets into a single platform to ensure consistent messaging and efficient global collaboration .
- Adopt headless architecture: Decouple content from presentation to enable flexible and scalable delivery across websites, mobile apps, kiosks, and in-room displays.
- Establish clear content governance policies: Define workflows for content creation, approval, and publishing to maintain quality and brand consistency across regions.
- What to avoid:
- Maintaining fragmented content repositories: This duplicates effort and leads to inconsistent brand experiences.
- Neglecting content performance analytics: Without measuring content effectiveness, optimization efforts will be untargeted.
Omnichannel Engagement and Personalization Omnichannel engagement ensures consistent and seamless interactions across all customer touchpoints, from social media and email to in-person experiences at airports or hotels. Despite its importance, only 19% of TTH brands possess the ability to dynamically change content for personalization and testing . The majority use either no personalization (38%) or basic personalization (50%) based on location or browsing history . To advance, brands must unify customer profiles using Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) to achieve a 360-degree customer view, integrating behavioral, transactional, and demographic data for actionable insights . AI-powered tools can then deliver context-aware experiences to granular audience segments, offer customizable add-ons like room upgrades, and provide real-time updates and recommendations throughout the entire travel journey. Integrating loyalty programs directly into the experience can further incentivize customer engagement .
What to do:
- Invest in a Customer Data Platform (CDP): Centralize first- and third-party customer data to create unified profiles and enable a 360-degree view .
- Deploy AI-powered personalization engines: Implement tools that deliver tailored offers and recommendations dynamically across all stages of the customer journey .
- Integrate AI-powered chatbots: Provide 24/7 customer support for faster query resolution and improved customer satisfaction .
What to avoid:
- Delivering generic customer experiences: This fails to meet modern traveler expectations for relevance and often results in lost opportunities for ancillary revenue.
- Separating loyalty programs from core CX platforms: This prevents real-time personalization and diminishes the value proposition of loyalty initiatives.
Data, Analytics, and Technology Foundation Personalized and contextual marketing hinges on centralized customer data. Currently, less than 15% of TTH companies have a single connected view of their customers across touchpoints, leading to disconnected experiences . Intelligent CDPs address this by unifying data from booking history, loyalty programs, and IoT devices, enabling real-time analytics and machine learning for data-driven decision-making . However, challenges persist, including fragmented data ecosystems between booking engines and CRM, data privacy compliance, and a lack of internal skills . Regarding technology, outdated martech stacks result in significant technical debt, with 64% reporting occasional painful updates and moderate debt, and 29% facing infrequent updates and high debt . The shift to modern, composable platforms is essential. Progressive technologies for 2025 include generative AI for itinerary creation, digital twins for virtual destination showcases, and IoT devices for hyper-personalized in-trip experiences such as smart luggage tracking or voice-activated concierge services .
What to do:
- Prioritize data governance and integration: Implement clear policies for data collection, storage, and usage, ensuring compliance with regulations like GDPR, and invest in robust integration solutions for disparate systems .
- Modernize martech stack with cloud-native, composable solutions: Adopt an API-first architecture that allows for flexible integration of specialized tools, reducing technical debt and increasing agility .
- Establish clear, measurable KPIs for digital success: Move beyond basic metrics like traffic and page views to focus on engagement, conversions, customer lifetime value, and marketing ROI aligned with business objectives .
What to avoid:
- Tolerating legacy systems and technical debt: This significantly impedes innovation and increases time-to-market for new experiences .
- Implementing AI without a clear strategy: Only 0% of TTH organizations are at an “operational efficiency” level for AI strategy, with 56% in beginning stages . Unplanned AI adoption will not yield meaningful business value.
Cultivating an Agile Organization and Strategic Priorities
Digital experience maturity is as much about organizational culture as it is about technology. A culture that embraces experimentation, cross-departmental collaboration, and customer-centricity is critical for sustaining digital marketing initiatives . A positive indicator is that over 75% of executive leaders in TTH are highly involved in their organization’s digital marketing strategy, ensuring leadership support and strategic alignment .
Operating Model and Roles: An effective team structure includes a committed executive sponsor who champions initiatives, secures budgets, and removes obstacles. This sponsor supports a core team comprising:
- Digital Strategist: Defines the digital vision and roadmap.
- Data Analyst: Extracts insights from customer data to inform decisions.
- Executive Sponsor: Provides strategic oversight and organizational support.
- Project Manager: Oversees digital initiatives and ensures timely delivery.
- UX Designer: Ensures user-friendly and engaging digital interfaces.
- Front & Backend Developers: Build and maintain the technical infrastructure .
Governance and Risk Controls: To promote collaboration and improve CX, several departments – marketing, customer service, IT, and operations – must share responsibility for CX outcomes . Establishing consistent workflows across teams and geographies is essential for governance.
Top Marketing Priorities for 2025: Marketing leaders in TTH recognize key priorities, with a significant emphasis on AI:
- Implementing or leveraging artificial intelligence (AI).
- Engaging with customers in real time.
- Improving marketing ROI / attribution.
- Creating a cohesive customer journey.
- Improving the use of tools and technologies .
Currently, 56% of companies are in the beginning stages of developing an AI strategy, governance, and policy . This indicates a significant opportunity for leaders to define paths of digital labor, balancing human authenticity with AI-driven automation to create innovative workflows and drive business value.
What ‘good’ looks like:
- Unified Customer View: A single, centralized CDP provides a 360-degree view of every customer, enabling real-time, personalized interactions across all channels.
- AI-Powered Personalization: Proactive, context-aware offers and recommendations are delivered automatically throughout the customer lifecycle, driving higher conversion and satisfaction rates (e.g., increased average order value by 15% for upsells).
- Composable Martech Stack: A cloud-native, API-first architecture minimizes technical debt, allowing rapid adoption of new technologies and quick iteration of digital experiences.
- Empowered, Collaborative Teams: Cross-functional teams are aligned around shared CX goals, supported by executive leadership, and equipped with the skills and tools to experiment and innovate effectively.
- Measurable Impact: Digital success is defined and tracked through robust KPIs tied to revenue and business objectives, such as customer satisfaction (CSAT) increases (e.g., 10% improvement), reduction in time-to-resolution (e.g., 20% faster), and improved customer lifetime value (CLTV).
Summary
As the TTH sector evolves, digital experience maturity is no longer a competitive advantage, but a prerequisite for sustained growth. Brands must adopt digital strategies that reflect consumer expectations for personalization, authenticity, and sustainability. This requires leveraging robust analytics, embracing cutting-edge technologies like generative AI and IoT, and fostering organizational agility. The winners in this landscape will be those that strategically combine data-driven personalization with a modern technology foundation and an agile, customer-centric culture. By proactively addressing these imperatives, TTH organizations can build lasting loyalty, enhance customer engagement, and drive significant revenue growth.
Source: Sitecore. (2025). DX maturity report for travel and hospitality: 2025 report. Sitecore Corporation
