Hand quilting will not make your quilt any more durable. However, it does provide a particular look and in some cases, it may provide sentimental value, if it the handiwork of someone who is well-loved. If the sentimental value doesn't matter, but you like the look of hand quilting, sometimes you can pay a church ladies' group or senior's group to do the quilting for you once you have pieced the quilt and chosen a quilt bat that you like. The downside is that you have less control over the end result. The upside is that the amount you pay could not begin to touch the number of personal hours you would have to spend, and in many cases the ladies doing it have a lot of experience that would save them time.
Machine quilting is also very pretty, but gives a different kind of a look. There are usually patterns that run all over the quilt in stitching. It is very popular these days and you can see many examples of that kind of quilting in fabric stores. Again, you can do this yourself, or hire it out.
Personally, I think that the personal touch comes from the way you design the quilt and the materials you use in it. I think it is definitely worth hiring out the actual quilting, unless it is just something that you want to do as a hobby for enjoyment. My mum has made quilts for all of the grandchildren as they've been born, as well as making full sized quilts when they graduate. This is a huge job, and in later years she decided to hire out the quilting for the last two quilts. She concluded that the money she spent was well worth it!