HOVR Associates with Cloudbeds to Revolutionize the Digital Guest Experience

On August 7, 2026, HOVR teamed up with Cloudbeds to improve the way hotels connect with their guests by joining HOVR's interactive video technology with Cloudbeds' hospitality platform. Cloudbeds offers a complete hotel management system and sees the guest's journey as including the planning stage, booking, and the experience itself through technology. The partnership brings visual storytelling into the operational systems so that hotels can include interactive content as part of their broader digital experience to highlight features and experiences before booking. This enables a higher digital experience at every stage, giving guests the opportunity to explore rooms, facilities, and destinations in an interactive manner. 

HOVR and Cloudbeds target to ensure the guest's digital journey is connected, encompassing engagement, storytelling, booking, and revenue growth, signaling a move towards personalized digital guest experiences. The arrangement supports Cloudbeds' open ecosystem, gives access to its API, and includes various integrations, thus reducing system fragmentation, and is ideal for independent hotels that need distinctive experiences. By linking interactive content to the existing hotel infrastructure, they can build direct relationships and a competitive edge.

Impact on the Alternative Accommodation Industry

The global alternative accommodation market size is predicted to surpass around USD 1,043.15 billion in 2035 from USD 233.50 billion in 2025, at a CAGR of 16.15% between 2026 and 2035. 

According to Precedence Research, hotels currently depend on photographs, descriptions, prices, and booking facilities. The alliance between HOVR and Cloudbeds is intended to accelerate the hospitality industry by providing a superior digital experience that takes customers from the initial stage of inspiration through to the final booking. Travelers now tend to look for information through a number of different channels.

The interactive features should enhance the user experience, enabling hotel websites to become active platforms for generating profits and fostering engagement. When the system is integrated with a hospitality platform such as Cloudbeds, it can enhance accommodation practices by providing services in discovery, booking, digital check-in, guest communication, operations, and post-stay follow-up.

Impact on the Duty-Free and Travel Retail Industry

The global duty-free and travel retail market size accounted for USD 95.76 billion in 2025 and is predicted to increase from USD 118.83 billion in 2026 to approximately USD 780.41 billion by 2035, expanding at a CAGR of 23.34% from 2026 to 2035.

According to Precedence Research, Cloudbeds makes it easy to connect different solutions. The collaboration between HOVR and Cloudbeds is a clear example of the growing trend towards interconnected hotel technology and travel retail ecosystems. HOVR uses interactive visual content to improve the guest experience by associating videos with customer profiles, booking data, and information about the property. 

Major issues such as data privacy, cybersecurity, and API reliability still exist, resulting in wider integrations to create a single, unified digital guest experience. The extensive integrations that span various stages of the guest experience result in a modular, seamless hotel technology environment with a high focus on engagement that influences bookings, upgrades, and loyalty.

Impact on the Digital Advertising Industry

The global digital advertising market size was calculated at USD 574.82 million in 2025 and is predicted to increase from USD 650.58 million in 2026 to approximately USD 1,982.57 million by 2035, expanding at a CAGR of 13.18% from 2026 to 2035.

According to Precedence Research, hotels display their atmosphere and facilities, thereby building trust and distinguishing themselves. HOVR's interactive video offers hotels with a fresh method of linking their digital marketing commitments to actual bookings and digital advertising. Together with Cloudbeds' infrastructure, this improves booking and guest management and enables storytelling that emphasizes the emotional and experiential elements.

The technology also enables targeted campaigns for groups such as business travelers, families, and people interested in wellness, and can drive additional revenue through upgradation and packages. Additionally, if HOVR and Cloudbeds improve engagement, conversion, and revenue, their partnership might shift travel marketing from one focused on attracting attention to one focused on experience-based conversions.

Expert Opinion

According to experts, the partnership between HOVR and Cloudbeds combines experiential content with operational systems to meet an industry need for guest attraction and management. HOVR excels in interactive video and digital engagement, while Cloudbeds provides a platform for bookings, guest communication, and operational management. This partnership is well-timed, given current trends in hospitality technology, aiming to improve website appearance and increase revenue. Interactive video helps travelers make better-informed decisions, reducing uncertainty for converting visitors. 

Success will depend on producing content that is fast, relevant, mobile-friendly, easy to update, secure, and user-friendly. The expert said that its ecosystem and API integration enable these solutions to be incorporated into broader hotel workflows, which is especially beneficial for independent properties and those focused on the guest experience, looking to stand out from large chains and OTAs.  If this partnership proves successful, it could turn immersive storytelling into a major driver of business and elevate the digital guest experience beyond just marketing.