THE Ascott Limited, CapitaLand's wholly owned serviced residence business unit, has unveiled its new brand, Lyf, targeted at and managed by millennials who wish to experience destinations as locals do.

Lee Chee Koon, Ascott's chief executive, noted that millennials already form a quarter of Ascott's customers and this segment is poised to grow exponentially.

"Lyf is a unique accommodation tailored for this demographic, including technopreneurs, startups and individuals from music, media and fashion. We do not define millennials by age but instead they are a social generation who crave discoveries and desire to be part of a community," he said.

With the rising trend of co-living and co-working, Ascott aims to have 10,000 units under the Lyf brand globally by 2020, Mr Lee said, adding that the group is "on the lookout for sites in key gateway cities for Lyf" and is open to both investment and management contracts to meet the growing demand for such co-living spaces - including Australia, France, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the United Kingdom.

The size of the millennial travel market is expanding rapidly and individuals in their 20s and 30s will account for more than half the workforce by 2020, said the group, adding that millennial travellers spend more than US$200 billion annually.

The launch of the new brand comes on the back of a year of strong growth for Ascott with more than 10,000 units added globally. Ascott has a global target of 80,000 units by 2020.