Millennials flex economic muscle, pushing hotels to open new boutique brands in 2014

For years, mature companies have been talking about the effect that the Millennial Generation will have on their businesses. What do they need to attract this demographic? How are they different from the generation that came before them? How has growing up with the Internet and social media affected their behavior, their needs and wants? Born between 1982 and 2004, leading edge Millennials are now a large enough force in the business world that Hilton Worldwide CEO Christopher Nassetta is planning a trend-based new hotel brand in 2014 geared towards them. The product will be a new lifestyle brand, to compete with Starwood's W Hotels brand and Marriott's upcoming Edition hotels. Hilton Worldwide recently went public on the New York Stock Exchange, giving it plenty of capital to become a strong player in this nascent market. So, what will a hotel brand for Millennials look like? Our guess is that the focus will be on design and entertainment, along with an attempt to bring social networking into the real world, inviting guests to meet each other in innovative new ways.