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.
This clearly shows that the Gujarat Indians are genetically predisposed to a high Motel Management Quotient (MMQ). How else would you explain that 0.01% of the USA population is Gujarat-owned yet they command 50% of the market? Indian biologists are somewhat reluctant to discuss the genetic aspects of this superiority given the long history of racism against Gujarat Indians by the British Empire. Still, Dr Patel of the University of Gujarat says that such superiority must be explored scientifically.
Its either Bush's fault or the white man's. There can't be any other reasons. Since we can't discriminagate against any "africanhyphenamerican" we have to give the $100K check (which is only about $1.9 million dollars short) to all africanhyphenamericans regardless of when their ancestors got here, even last week. Make way for Steven Spielberg's "Great Society II, the next Chapter" starring der fuhrer Jessie Jackson as the 2nd coming of Lyndon Johnson. With Reparations John Conyers in a key supporting role as the commandant of the atonement (concentration) camp for evil whites after they pay up. Bill Clinton will star as the 1st africanhyphenamerican president.
I wonder how many can identify by year and make the cars in that picture??
They had adapted well to the southern culture by providing a big crockpot full of very good gravy and passable biscuits.
Well, look at it this way. Other than the FUBU store, the evil white and Chaldean people working at the other stores would have more money in wages with which to pay up. Its a win win for our favorite oppressed minority. I bet, in a couple of centuries they'd be at a point where they could quit blaming the evil white man for all of their problems. I gotta admit, some of those $18,000 spinning rims are cool, but I'd rather spend it on a couple of Brownings myself.
I know this in particular is true. If only American families would learn to work together like this. How sad what WE have become.
and that my fellow Americans is where the majority of your FEMA money was spent here in the Dallas area by the Katrina folks...well add it to hat mix the jewelry dept at Walmart!!
"Wow, now I'm really sorry we took their land and put them on reservations."
Rimshot!
Quickie-Mart Patels, too.
but on the other hand our chicken curry is simply delicious ...
Hmmm, ...I wonder why?
Nothing new. The TULSA WORLD ran an article similar to this, even mentioning the name PATEL about 30 years ago.
And what is wrong with it? I have stayed at many a India Indian owned motel and the rooms have been Ok. Some even went the extra mile to insure my stay was enjoyable. I will stay at one of them again.
One of them looks like a RAM-RAM-RAM-Rambler!
Quite frankly thoseNazis were tough SOBs
"I know this in particular is true. If only American families would learn to work together like this. How sad what WE have become."
I agree it's an old model that works well even today.
European immigrants in the US and Canada for that matter, have always built wealth this way.
The rules were quite simple.
Don't do business with strangers.
Don't go into debt unless the debtor is someone you know and trust who will stand by you if things go bad.
And if your business does well make sure your friends see some of the benifits of your good fortune.
It's no accident that Italians, Indians, Greeks and Germans are so successful in small business enterprises.
In Canada you could say the same of Iranians, Sikhs and more recently Native Indians. They take care of their own first.
It's a matter of family interests before the interests of the world at large.
Nothing wrong with that.
I think they are from R-L..57 Ford, 56 Chevy, 63 0r 64 Ford and a 56 Buick.
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