AAHOA Founding Chairman H.P. Rama (1991-1992) spoke to a room full of students during the Tetley Distinguished Leader Lecture Series at Kennesaw State University on Wednesday, October 19. Rama was proud to share his humble beginnings with the attentive student body, who only knew of him before as a successful hotelier and philanthropist.

 

He grew up in a small town in India, and moved to the U.S. in 1969 to pursue a Master of Business Administration. He reminded the students that he considers himself an “accidental hotelier,” kicking off his professional career as a dishwasher at a motel and eventually landing a promotion as a waiter. After saving his hard-earned money, he purchased his first property in 1973, a 37-room motel in Ponoma, California. As a co-founder of AAHOA, Rama shared the significant impact the association has had in the industry and to many Indian-American hoteliers.

 

The AAHOA team interviewed Rama and hospitality students at the end of the event. In the upcoming weeks, we will release a video with more inspiring details about Rama's impact on the hospitality industry and the next generation.

Laura Lee Blake, AAHOA President & CEO, has been named one of Hotel Management’s Top Influential Women in Hospitality. 

 

“I am so highly honored to have been selected as an influential woman in the industry by HOTEL MANAGEMENT Magazine in its October 2022 issue,” Blake shared on LinkedIn. “With our first HerOwnership conference around the corner, I am thrilled to see doors opening for women in hospitality. Together we can foster, promote, and empower women entrepreneurs to shatter the glass ceiling and pursue their entrepreneurial journey.”

 

Although Blake was in the legal field full-time prior to joining the association this summer, she served as AAHOA’s general counsel and VP, fair franchising and government affairs, from 2005 to 2014. Blake’s decade of experience and legal background have proven valuable and unstoppable as she champions America’s hotel owners.

 

Additionally, Blake is working on long-term solutions to achieve fairness in franchising for AAHOA Members, voicing hotel owners’ concerns on important advocacy issues at federal, state, and local levels and, she said, “We're unifying our members to rally together, speak out, and stand firm on the issues that are most important for their businesses, their families, and their communities.”

 

View the full list in the Hotel Management October Issue today!

AAHOA released its updated 12 Points of Fair Franchising (the “12 Points”) as an educational primer earlier this year, continuing its mission and commitment to educating AAHOA Members on best-in-class, mutually beneficial franchise systems.

 

Currently, about 82% of AAHOA Members own and operate a hotel franchise. Many of you rely on the franchise business model to achieve entrepreneurship, contribute to your communities, and support your families.

 

From termination rights and liquidated damages to franchise sales ethics and practices and dispute resolution, the 12 Points cover a lot of ground. To continue to empower AAHOA Member-Franchisees toward more successful franchise hotel ownership, AAHOA launched the 12 Points of Fair Franchising Webinar Series - a 12-part video series where AAHOA President & CEO Laura Lee Blake will dive deep into each point and invite industry leaders to share their experience with fair franchising.

 

To start, the first video in the 12 Points Webinar Series dropped last week! You can now watch Blake discuss termination rights and liquidated damages, a key provision in many franchise agreements.