Travel Megatrends 2020: Smart Design Isn’t Just for Luxe Travel Anymore

There is no turning back on the transformation of low-budget hotels from the "uncategorized" class into a legitimate segment of the global hotel industry. Future technology and the rise of Gen Z will further fuel innovation and change in the design of economy accommodations — especially in Asia.

There is no turning back on the transformation of low-budget hotels from the "uncategorized" class into a legitimate segment of the global hotel industry. Future technology and the rise of Gen Z will further fuel innovation and change in the design of economy accommodations — especially in Asia.

We recently released our annual travel industry trends forecast, Skift Megatrends 2020. Download a copy of our magazine here and look for us to highlight individual trends in the coming days.

Upstarts across the globe led by Oyo Hotels & Homes, RedDoorz, Yanolja, and many other players are reviving faceless buildings, guesthouses, hostels, so-called love hotels, and budget vacation rentals into legitimate, respectable businesses.

The trend is being driven by tech-focused entrepreneurship and points to a deepening democratization of travel. Whether or not these ventures are profitable eventually, what they've done is reinvent the category, giving it the distribution scale to wholesalers and online travel agencies. With this ingenuity, these previously dismissed hotels are making three-star hotels look too pricey and too old.

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Skift is the largest industry intelligence and marketing platform in travel, providing news, information, data and services to all sectors of the world's largest industry. Skift identifies and synthesizes existing and emerging trends, in its daily coverage of the global travel industry and through its Skift Trends Reports. Skift produces Skift Global Forum annually to bring together over 500 of the most influential professionals in the...