ROOMFUL OF OPPORTUNITIES
World is indeed round proves the roving interest of NRG motel owners. Most of the motel owners, who left Gujarat in search of better opportunities about three decades back, are in reverse mode today. For them, now Gujarat is the land of opportunities.
“There are big business opportunities right here,” said Alkesh Patel, chairman of USA’s Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA). Addressing a meeting of Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), he said that 45 per cent of the AAHOA members are Asians of which 90 per cent are Gujarati. And they are eager to invest in motherland.
The Tuesday event was organized by GCCI’s NRG committee. The co-speakers at the event included president of the GCCI Prakash Bhagwati; chairman of GCCI NRG committee K H Patel; principal secretary Arvind Agrawal. They spoke on ways of building up business ties in the hospitality sector between Gujarat and the US.
Due to recession the values are about 30 to 40 per cent down in the US. The authorities there have come up with attractive offers for low investment investor visas like EB5 – which enables the investor to open a business in the US on investment of $2.5 lakh.
In today’s context, this is the right time to invest with US counterparts when the investment can be done at minimum amount, explained Patel. “Many American companies are looking for local partners in Gujarat. For next 20 years Gujarat will remain a hotspot for hotel sector opportunities,” said Patel.
Expressing rising interest of NRGs in the state, Patel, who owns about eight both branded and boutique hotels in Pacific west zone in the US, said, “We are pushing for public private partnerships in hotel industry here. We have put across a detailed proposal to open branded franchise hotels at various religious spots in Guajrat.”
