Hilton Worldwide may add a new brand that focuses on small, cheap hotels in urban areas. Chief Executive Officer Chris Nassetta said the company is exploring the idea of creating a hostel-like micro-hotel, rather than acquiring like-properties. This would appeal to the millennial set–an overseas tourist group projected to spend $336 billion by 2020, up from $230 billion in 2014, Bloomberg reports. More commonly, hotel developers are converting atypical sites into adaptable lifestyle concepts with lower conversion costs than ground-up developments, reports Ernst & Young in its 2016 EY Global Hospitality Insights Report. Properties like hostels allow hotels to depart from strict franchise norms, appealing to a wider demographic of travelers. Read more here.
