When Digital Strategy Meets Brand Heritage: Enhancing Financial Performance in Moroccan Luxury Hotels

Abstract

Digital transformation has become a strategic imperative for luxury hotels operating in an increasingly technology-driven environment. While previous research has established a positive relationship between digital strategy and organizational performance, limited attention has been paid to the role of Brand Heritage in strengthening this relationship within luxury hospitality, where authenticity, historical identity, and symbolic value constitute key competitive assets. To address this gap, this study develops an integrative conceptual framework grounded in the Resource-Based View (RBV) and Dynamic Capabilities Theory.

This study investigates the moderating role of Brand Heritage in the relationship between Digital Strategy and Financial Performance in Moroccan luxury hotels. An exploratory qualitative design was adopted, based on ten semi-structured interviews with senior executives from five-star luxury hotels and palace hotels located in Morocco's main tourist destinations (Marrakech, Casablanca, Rabat, Agadir, and Tamuda Bay). Thematic analysis reached data saturation and identified four major themes.

The findings indicate that digital strategy enhances financial performance by improving operational efficiency, revenue optimization, customer relationship management, and service personalization. More importantly, the results show that these benefits are amplified when digital initiatives remain aligned with the hotel's historical identity, organizational values, and Brand Heritage. Rather than constraining innovation, Brand Heritage emerges as a strategic intangible resource that reinforces customer trust, strengthens brand authenticity, and enhances the financial returns of digital transformation. The study contributes to the hospitality literature by proposing an integrative framework explaining how heritage-based resources and digital capabilities jointly foster sustainable financial performance in luxury hotels.

Classification JEL : L25 ; O33 ; Z32

Paper type : Empirical Research