Posted on 12/25/2005 11:42:40 PM PST by CarrotAndStick
Dallas, April 29: Today's great American hotel owner is more likely to be named Patel and have roots that extend to the Indian state of Gujarat, than to be named Trump and lay claim to premier properties in the New York area.
Immigrants from India, almost all with ties to Gujarat, have become a dominant force in the US hotel industry.
They own about half of the US economy lodging facilities and almost 37 per cent of all hotel properties here, according to the Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA), based in Atlanta.
This means that if a traveller stops at a Days Inn along Interstate 95 on the way to Washington, a Best Western in rural Montana, or a Holiday Inn Express near Dallas, there is about a 50 per cent chance the hotel is owned by an individual or the family of an immigrant from India.
"The first group found opportunities in the lodgings industry, more by accident than by design," said Hitesh Bhakta, chairman of the AAHOA at the group's convention held in late April at a suburban Dallas hotel.
Indians from Gujarat started to buy into lower-end US hotels in the 1960s and 1970s, when US immigration laws granted residency for new arrivals who invested about $10,000 to run a business. The ethnic group now owns about 20,000 hotels -- about 1 million rooms -- in 50 states.
The first hotels purchased were in run-down areas and typically at the bottom end of the industry, but they did provide the new immigrants with a place to live on the premises. All that was required was for a family to be on call 24 hours a day and be ready to work to keep the hotel operating smoothly.
INVESTING IN VACANCIES
As with many ethnic groups that find a niche in the marketplace, word spread about the opportunities in US hotels.
Most of the immigrants working in the lodgings industry are named Patel, a common surname in Gujarat, said to mean "village chief."
The immigrants also proved themselves to be an extremely low credit risk, making it possible for thousands to invest $10,000 or $20,000 or so as a down payment in a hotel property worth about $100,000 to $120,000.
"The network gave them a business plan," said Bhakta.
"They didn't need consultants. All a potential investor had to do was call up his uncle and ask, 'How much should I pay and is this a good market?'," he said.
In the 1970s, the number of Indians in US lodging expanded greatly. The gasoline crisis in the mid 1970s led to a drop in domestic travel, which increased the investment opportunities in roadside hotels. Indian investors could afford to acquire more properties because they were cheaper.
Immigration laws have changed over the years, making it much more difficult and expensive for new arrivals to gain US residency status by investing in a business, but Indian-Americans had already established a strong presence in the market.
BUYING THE RITZ
The industry group AAHOA was formed in 1989 partly in response to some hotel owners trying to take business away from hotels owned by Indian immigrants by placing an "American owned" sign outside their establishments.
Now, because of the strong presence of Indian immigrants in the industry and tougher rules from hotel franchise operators, the practice of playing on ethnic differences has largely disappeared.
The children of the first generation of hotel owners have taken the path followed by many other second-generation immigrants. Some have shied away from the industry because of the demanding work, while others have gained entree to running more upscale lodging facilities by enrolling in renowned hotel schools at Cornell or New York University or earning advanced degrees in business administration.
"We are turning out a lot of second-generation hotel owners," said Chekitan Dev, a professor of marketing at Cornell's School of Hotel Administration. "They are using their education to take their business to the next level."
One of the many success stories is H.P. Rama, who started with a small investment and took over a 37-room hotel in Pomona, California. He is now the head of JHM Hotels, which runs 32 properties, with 5,000 rooms, in nine states. A founding chairman of AAHOA, he has also served as chairman of the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA).
Rama said he sees an ever-growing presence of Indian Americans at all levels of the US hotel business in the years ahead.
"I have no doubt that the second generation will dominate the lodging industry in this country in all segments of the market," Rama said.
I believe the first comments were in jest, sarcasm. In reference, sarcastically, to the notion that the U.S. "owes reparations" to today's blacks.
Welcome to the USA = Rule #1 - If you want to become wealthy you need to OWN more and spend less! Now if we could only teach this to our children
I was being sarcastic, just like the person I was replying to.
His name was Max Willie. He owned a transmission shop. In the early seventies I took a transmission into his shop for an estimate. I gave explicit instructions that they not proceed with the repair until I was informed of the cost.
When I inquired about the estimate I was told by the son that the repair was done and the bill was $350. That was more than I paid for the transmission.
I complained and said I asked for an estimate. I did not authorize the repair. The son referred me to the elder Willie. When talked to him he said. "OK if you don't want to pay I own the transmission. I took him to court. The judge found for me after some very tough questioning.
I got a judgment of execution and Willie refused to comply. I went back to court and Willie was found to be in contempt of the order and I was awarded an additional $300 in punitive damages.
Unfortunately since I represented myself I had to server the judgment to Willie myself. When I served him in his shop he told me. "You better get out of here now."
It was only later that I learned from friends in the local auto industry that he survived the Battle of Stalingrad and WALKED back to Germany.
The man was not someone to be f***ed with. I did however get my money. But the look on Willies face when I served him sent a chill up my spine. I was 23 and he was fifty. I knew from that encounter that he was not afraid of any two legged creature.
Flogerloon.... I got a blog for Christmas. There is no return policy *doh*
One of my two seems to understand that concept. I guess a 50% success rate is better than zero.
Actually mass manufacturing based on the division of labor was first implemented in the making of nails in the middle ages.
Their are German woodcuts illustrating the procees.
I was thinking division of labor and inter-changeable parts.
Oh my! That's one frightening experience! What happened later? Was he arrested?
Thanks for taking the trouble to explain this.
Any hotel I've been in run by Indians has bugs. Bugs in the sheets, in the mattresses, in the carpets, etc. Either that or they smell bad - like cigaretts, bug spray etc.
Did you put him on your Christmas list?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1589790170/qid=1135597199/sr=8-3/ref=pd_bbs_3/002-2804418-1965667?n=507846&s=books&v=glance
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00003CXRA/002-2804418-1965667?v=glance&n=130
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00095LEEW/002-2804418-1965667?v=glance
Thanks for taking the trouble.
About the movie, I'll try and watch it. I live in India, so I'll have to go to the local German council and see if they have a copy. They usually stock movies of this genre, but they'd have to be popular in Germany itself.
Chistmas list? I dropped the court ordered judgement on his counter and ran to my car out of fear for my life.
I crossed myself every time I drove by his shop after that.
The dude was the scariest person I ever met in my life and I've encountered some scary people in my time.
He was the kind of guy who would kill you and think using a gun was for sissies.
ISYN the man was from another age and another planet.
It was a joke, but I understand what you mean.
That was my thought. They don't run 20,000 motels. They run 19,800 motels, and maybe 200 hotels.
There *is* a difference.
I know it was a joke but seriously I replied to reinforce my point.
The SS were cowards and bullies but rank an file Wehrmacht were very tough and very dangerous.
The Allies had a great deal of respect for them and treated them accordingly. Many of there number fought in Africa, Russia and the final assault on Germany.
Many of them were conscripts who refuse to join the Nazi party. The Wehrmacht was also the only military unit that did not require Nazi party membership.
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