Hilton Opens Garden Inn Gen A in China as Brand Bets on Young Travelers

By focusing on franchise and joint venture deals, Hilton’s found a way to grow quickly without spending a lot of its own money. It’s a smart, low-risk strategy and one that seems to be paying off.

Hilton on Tuesday debuted its first Hilton Garden Inn Gen A hotels in China, a new regional prototype designed specifically for younger, more design-conscious travelers – Gen A stands for Generation Alpha.

The openings are in multiple cities, including Chongqing, Sanya, and Harbin. At its 2025 Hilton Garden Inn Investment Summit, the company also announced 19 new signings for the brand across Greater China, adding to a growing pipeline of 185 planned properties, in addition to the 115 already operating in the region.

Hilton’s 2025 Trends Report revealed that 88% of Gen Alpha and Gen Z in Asia Pacific are likely to travel in the next year. Gen Alpha and Gen Z’s appetite for travel is particularly pronounced in China, India and Singapore, where young travelers have gone on two to three trips on average in the past ye