The Times of India
('Gujaratis' are natives of the western Indian state of Gujarat - Sujeet)
42% of US hotel business is Gujarati Hiral Dholakia-Dave [ 18 Oct, 2006 0120hrs IST TIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
EDISON, NEW JERSEY: Dalpatbhai Patel could have been a successful engineer in the US, led a contented life and sent enough money to his family back home in Malekpore, a little village near Bardoli. But this son of a schoolteacher had set his goals higher. When he bought his first motel in the US in 1970, he began a virtual gold rush that has seen motels - known as Potels in the American lexicon - mushrooming.
Over three-and-a-half decades later, the Potel phenomenon has left the world gasping. Gujaratis, mainly Patels, now own 21,000 of the 53,000 hotels and motels in the US. It makes for a staggering 42% of the US hospitality market, with a combined worth of $40 billion.
All along, it has been a tale of grit and sheer determination of those rags-to-riches stories enacted in real life. When Hasmukh Rama came to the US from Vadodara in 1969, he started out as a waiter. Now, CEO of JHM Hotels which owns 70 hotels, Rama hasn't forgotten those days of struggle. "It was tough. But we were determined to take up the challenge. I bought my first hotel in California in 1973 and have never looked back," he says.
Most Gujarati hoteliers say times have changed and top US chains are noticing this success. Asian American Hotel Owners Association, which has 9,000 members and 90% of whom are Gujaratis, says Indian-American hoteliers pay $700 million in taxes every year and create a million jobs. Upper-grade chains like Marriott, Hilton and Starwood are now more open to franchising their hotels to Gujaratis.