PARIS, March 20 (Reuters) - AccorHotels ACCP.PA will open its first youth hostel targeted at young adults in the surf resort of Hossegor in south west France in May in partnership with surfwear brands Quiksilver and Roxy, it said on Monday.
Europe's largest hotel group announced plans in September to launch a youth hostel brand called Jo&Joe to tap the spending power of young adults and respond to the challenge of Airbnb. It is targeting 50 such hostels by 2020. hotel operators such as AccorHotels and rivals Marriott MAR.O , Hilton HLT.N and InterContinental IHG.L are focusing increasingly on millennials - people who became adults around 2000 - whom they expect to be the biggest single group of hotel customers by 2020.
After Hossegor, slated to open on May 29, AccorHotels plans to open Jo&Joe hostels in Paris and Bordeaux in 2018, followed by Budapest, Edinburgh, Lille, Rio and Berlin, the statement said.
Prices at the 145-bed Hossegor hostel will start at 19 euros ($20.43) per night and will offer surfing, paddle boarding, yoga, concerts and workshops.
($1 = 0.9299 euros)