Hotel Industry Looking to Lure Black, Latino Franchisees
Compiled by the DiversityInc staff
© 2006 DiversityInc.com®
April 06, 2006
Hotel chains such as Hilton, Holiday Inn and Marriott (No. 12 on The DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity list) are looking to Latino and black investors to help them bounce back from a three-year-long fiscal slump.
These three chains in particular are reaching out to people of color to franchise their brands in an effort to match the success hotels had in wooing Asian franchisees, particularly Indians, who now operate half of the country's limited-service hotels. Currently, blacks and Latinos make up less than 1 percent of franchise owners, but according to industry leaders, they represent an untapped investment source.
Atlanta, Ga., could become a focal point of the movement to lure more black business people into the hotel business. Though the metro area is home to one of the wealthiest black populations in the country, industry leaders could only identify four majority black-owned hotels, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
"When we started researching this, we were quite surprised," says Andy Ingraham, president and chief executive officer of the Fort Lauderdale, Fla.–based National Association of Black Hotel Owners, Operators & Developers (NABHOOD). "Atlanta is known by outsiders as a mecca for people of color, so we expected better representation."
This summer NABHOOD will be hosting a conference at the Atlanta Century Center Marriott, a hotel owned by black billionaire Bob Johnson, founder of Black Entertainment Television. This conference will spotlight the issue of black and Latino hotel ownership.
"Atlanta, quite frankly, has more potential," says Ingraham. "We hope that this conference in July is a beacon to hotel ownership."
Posted By: Candice Johnson
Saturday, April 8th 2006 at 9:41PM
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