The Patel Story:  From Rags to Riches

Stanley Turkel, guest columnist at Hotel Interactive, explains the amazing story of the Patels:

While some of us were sleeping, a remarkable revolution has taken place. In the past 25 years, members of the Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA) acquired more than 20,000 hotels with more than one million rooms. This represents more than 50 percent of the economy lodging properties in the U.S. and 40 percent of all hotel properties including many upscale hotels. If you bear in mind that Indian Americans constitute less than one percent of America's population, the achievement appears extraordinary. The market value of these hotels totals about $40 billion. It is estimated that the hotels employ almost 800,000 people and annually pay some $700 million in real estate taxes annually. Incidentally, there may be an additional 4,000 hotels owned by Indian Americans who are not AAHOA members.

How did this happen under our noses?
Direct Links:
Part 1, Part 2


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