WASHINGTON, Apr 6 : Dominated by Indian Americans, Asian American Hotel Owners Association or AAHOA — the largest body of hotel and motel owners in the US, representing more than 36,000 properties and employing over 1.1 million workers — is the definition of the “American dream”, the association’s youngest ever chairman Miraj S Patel has said.
Patel, 26, on Friday took over as the chairman of the most powerful and influential body of hotel and motel owners in the United States at AAHOA’s annual convention and trade show in Orlando, Florida.
“In my opinion, as a second-generation hotelier, whose first generation of my parents and all my grandparents came into the country, they have built a great foundation for us. Now we have to create a structure over that foundation. More than anything, AAHOA is the definition of the American dream,” Patel, president of the Wayside Investment Group, told PTI in an interview in Orlando, Florida on Thursday.
“If you look at our Oxford (research) data, 60 per cent of the hotels in America are owned by AAHOA members. And the State that I live in, which is the State of Texas, 89 per cent of the hotels in the state of Texas are owned by AAHOA members. If that doesn’t tell you the footprint that we have, then what does?” said Patel, who grew up with his parents at his family’s 30-room independent property in Texas.
The combined property value of AAHOA members is believed to be more than USD 1 trillion. They contribute over 1.5 per cent to the US GDP and their collective annual spending is over USD50 billion.
Founded in 1989 to fight against discrimination, AAHOA is dominated by Indian Americans, in particular the Patels from Gujarat, who form over three-fourths of its members and hotel ownership.
“Our idea now is to work with policymakers and our elected officials to educate them on what our concerns are. Our idea is to use the Oxford data to leverage what we have already, the value proposition of the association, to educate them and making sure that we work with them to create better solutions for our membership and our industry,” Patel said.
Over the next one year, Patel said he has set his goals on four issues to focus on things that matter the most and the challenges being faced.
“I break it down into four buckets. Number one is brands. Number two is disruptors. Number three is costs. Number four is regulations. And those are the four things that I would like to tackle alongside with our board of directors this year and so that we can make sure that we strategise on seeing how we can help our membership,” he said.
AAHOA members, Patel said, are also looking at increasing their investment in India and play a role in the development of the country’s travel and tourism sector and its infrastructure.
“(Prime Minister Narendra Modi) is the architect (of India’s development in the last 10 years)… I commend Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the entire leadership to really take India on the map…Being second generation, growing up in America, it’s always a proud moment to say that my family is from India. People recognise in America where India is going and where it will be,” he said.
“Travel and tourism, whether it be in America or in India, I think working together in a strategic partnership is going to be key. You look at the brand partners here that we do business with, they are putting a heavy focus on India as well. And there’s a reason for that. They are seeing that there’s a lot of travel and tourism going towards India.
“That is why many of our own members are now even developing in India as well with their brand partners. The brand partners are putting a heavy focus with the local hotel owners and operators in India to develop the brands in America,” Patel said in response to a question. (PTI)
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