How many US hotels are owned by Indian Americans?

The headline number and where it comes from

The most widely cited figure comes from AAHOA, the largest hotel owners' association in the country. AAHOA says its nearly 20,000 members own 36,807 hotels in the US, with 3.2 million guestrooms, and that these properties represent 60% of all US hotels¹. The figures come from an economic-impact study AAHOA commissioned from Oxford Economics; the study's infographic, dated December 2023, describes a two-year research process with a deep-dive sample of 5,000 hotels and a margin of error of plus or minus 1.4%². The full national report, which reflects 2022 data, puts the precise estimate at 59.5% of US hotel properties and 58% of rooms, and counts a hotel as AAHOA-owned if a member holds an ownership interest or, for corporate-owned hotels, a senior executive role⁸.

The number has grown over time. When AAHOA first announced an Oxford Economics study in August 2021, members owned 34,260 hotels with 3.1 million guestrooms, also put at 60% of the total⁴.

Measure	2021 study	Current study
AAHOA member-owned hotels	34,260	36,807
Guestrooms	3.1 million	3.2 million
Share of US hotels	60%	60%

Sources: Hotel Online (2021)⁴; AAHOA (current)¹.

What HeyAlbert data shows

Is AAHOA the same as Indian American ownership?

Not exactly, but close. AAHOA stands for the Asian American Hotel Owners Association, and membership is open beyond any single heritage. Its own account of its history, though, opens: "The story of AAHOA is the story of Indian Americans pursuing – and achieving – the American Dream"³. AAHOA was formed in 1989 after Indian American hoteliers who faced discrimination from banks and insurers organized to support one another³.

Independent research points the same way. Sociologist Pawan Dhingra, author of a book on Indian American motel owners, has estimated that at least one in two US motels is Indian American-owned, that about 70% of those owners are Gujarati and that about three-quarters of the Gujarati owners share the surname Patel⁵. NPR has noted that Indian immigrants and their children make up about 1% of the US population⁶. The history behind that concentration is told in how Gujarati Patel families came to own so many US motels.

What kinds of hotels are they?

The report shows the share is highest at the budget end: AAHOA members own an estimated 65.9% of economy-class hotels and 61.5% of upper-midscale hotels, but 40.8% of luxury hotels; economy properties make up 45.1% of members' hotels⁸. The portfolio leans toward smaller, limited-service and economy properties, though it has moved steadily upmarket. An independent review by Matthews Hotel Markets notes that 3.2 million rooms across 36,807 hotels works out to about 87 rooms per hotel, consistent with a membership weighted to select-service and economy properties⁷. Many are franchised: the American Hotel & Lodging Association says 57% of US hotels are franchised, meaning an independent owner licenses a brand name such as Hampton or Holiday Inn Express rather than the brand owning the building⁷.

That distinction matters for understanding the wealth involved. The large hotel companies own very few of the hotels that carry their names; the real estate, and the equity, sit with owners like AAHOA members. A Cornell hospitality professor told NPR that Gujarati owners played a huge role in the expansion of Best Western and Days Inn across the country, partly because they were willing to open in small towns⁶. Our analysis of Indian American franchise owners looks at the same model in convenience stores and restaurants.

How to read the 60% figure

Three cautions apply. First, it is a trade association's figure about its own members, produced by a firm it hired; no federal agency publishes hotel ownership by ethnicity⁷. Second, it is a share of hotel properties, not of rooms or revenue, and big full-service hotels and resorts owned by public REITs and institutional investors carry far more rooms and value per property⁷. Third, ownership is often partial, through partnerships and LLCs where one family holds stakes in several hotels.

Even with those caveats, hotels are one of the clearest examples of a community building wealth through real assets. The economic footprint, including jobs, taxes and contribution to GDP, is covered in the economic impact of Indian American-owned hotels.

From motels to diversified family enterprises

AAHOA notes that many of the original "accidental hoteliers" have passed their businesses to US-educated children, and that second- and third-generation owners and developers are building on that foundation³. Dhingra observes that children who return to the industry typically enter at a higher tier than their parents, moving from independent motels to branded and upscale hotels while keeping the family's networks and knowledge⁵.

Hotel cash flow has also funded moves into development and other property types, explored in Indian American real estate developers and the role of family businesses in Indian American wealth. Passing these assets between generations raises its own planning questions, covered in intergenerational wealth transfer. For how hospitality fits into the wider picture of business ownership, see how many businesses Indian Americans own.