NRG hoteliers want fair US laws

The Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA) holds its annual convention in Washington DC as a show of strength to elected officials.

Seeking to flex their collective muscle, the AAHOA is galvanising to make an even deeper impact on the hospitality industry. Holding its annual conference recently on the shores of Maryland and overlooking the nation’s capital, AAHOA is celebrating past accomplishments achieved during its 20 year history while mapping out its future goals.

“We have a lot to celebrate but we must not become complacent, now is the time to create our future,” said incoming AAHAO chairman Tarun Patel. “We wanted to come here to show Washington DC and the world we are the leading force in the hotel industry. We are the voice of owners in the lodging industry. The power of AAHOA is combination of all of us but it is being constrained by the glass walls. You can see and feel us but without the intensity.”

Part celebration and part pep rally, the event’s main focus is as an idea exchange; a place for attendees to share successes and misfires while also discussing ongoing challenges the collective community faces. Though the group has achieved unparalleled, its leaders still feel the community has lots to achieve, especially when it comes to getting its members needs met on Capitol Hill.

To help create that intensity, Patel called on its nearly 10,000 to participate in a survey that will provide AAHOA leaders with more data that it feels will help send a clear signal to elected officials that AAHOA members are a major driving economic force. Current statistics show that AAHOA members own more than $60 billion in real estate and employ more than 1 million people.

“We are telling the government that we own most of your hotels, we pay a lot of taxes and employ a lot of people. We are a force to contend with,” Ash Patel, outgoing AAHOA chairman. “We have entered a new level of political activism. We’ve had numerous meetings on Capitol Hill and have partnered with other organisations to fight bills that can impact businesses and well being.”

Ash Patel said AAHOA raised more than $3,00,000 for its political action, 150 percent of their initial goal.  Patel said the organisation has entered a new level of political activism and have held numerous meetings on capitol hill, and partnered with other groups to fight bills that can impact the well being businesses. “We are telling politicians we own most of your hotels, we pay a lot of taxes and employ a lot of people… we are a force to contend with,” said Ash Patel.

With the conference being held in Maryland, the state’s Lieutenant-Governor Anthony G Brown came to show support of AAHOA and the tourism industry for its impact on the state’s fiscal health. In Maryland tourism accounts for 140,000 jobs and drives $1.7 billion in state and local taxes. In 2007, the state had 27 million visitors that generated more than $13.6 billion in spending. Maryland’s state budget is $14.4 billion.

“The governor and I believe in Maryland we choose to harness the tremendous power of our diverse economy to expand opportunities to all citizens including minority and women owned businesses. We recognize AAHOA members are essential to our national economy,” said Brown.

“We recognize the importance of who you are and what you do. Thank you for the contributions you make to our society and economy.” As an organisation, AAAHOA seems to be doing extremely well according to treasurer Hemant Patel. We are navigating troubles water with extreme discipline,” he said, noting the group has, for example, been allocating funds to dozens of banks to ensure all monies are FDIC protected in case of potential bank failures.

AAHOA has also dramatically changed the structure of the organization through its bylaws to ensure it works more effectively for the long term rather than for n individual chairman’s priorities. To that end the 31 member Board voted unanimously to change about 70 bylaws. “We are no longer operating under personal agendas. We have strict and transparent guidelines,” said Ash Patel.

Founded in 1989, AAHOA has grown from 100 members to 9,300. Over 80 percent of its members are of Gujarati origin.