01/26/2026
Hoteliers and ownership often ask ‘how do we measure ROI of hotel branding?’
Its an important question, and one that isn’t straightforward to answer due to the more ‘intangible’ nature of branding, design, and concept development
Branding isn’t a one-off action that you can immediately track like a social media advertisement or a Google PPC, and email campaign
It’s a long-term investment woven into every aspect of the guest experience
Your hotel concept:
* Influences your advertising
* Is reflected in your service and programming
* Takes shape on your website
* Is executed on your social media
* Determines how you design your interiors
I reference the Design Quality Indicator (DQI) as a framework, which was developed by a construction management company
DQI assesses how built space affects tangible business results, as well as intangibles like staff and customer satisfaction
The results from their case studies were clear: better DQI scores meant higher market pe*******on, customer and staff satisfaction, and overall business outcomes.
They also created these scores for hospitality with Hyatt, for example, conducting a DQI audit across 30 of their own hotels
They found a direct correlation between higher DQI scores and higher market pe*******on, ADRs, and guest satisfaction
Just like a well-designed physical asset can improve guest satisfaction and occupancy rates, so can your ‘brand asset’
They both deliver huge value and ROI when done with intention and care
Do you feel like hotels are over-indexing on the physical asset at the cost of their brand asset?
** Link to DQI/Hyatt in the comments
Clip taken from my chat with Mauricio on .are.schulering
