NASHVILLE, TN— Flashes of lightning aside, the real “deluge” to hit this city yesterday was the 2002 Asian American Hotel Owners Association Annual Convention & Trade Show as nearly 3,000 delegates flooded the Gaylord Opryland Hotel & Convention Center here. No doubt a big part of the event’s draw was the opportunity to hear from former Vice President Al Gore as well as a host of other inspirational as well as informational notables on the meeting’s opening-day agenda, including the likes of: Smith Travel Research’s Randy Smith, Alan Tallis of LaQuinta Inns, U.S. cultural/social advocate William Bennett, Mira Nair of Mirabai Films. Following opening remarks by AAHOA Vice Chairman (and Convention Chairman) “Mike” Amin and AAHOA Chairman “Dan” Patel, Gore stepped to the podium to share his views and observations about the economy as well as world events. At the same time, the former Presidential hopeful touched on several concerns near and dear to AAHOA’s membership; concerns he learned about first-hand via a brief pre-speech discussion with AAHOA Secretary Hitesh Bhakta. Accordingly, Gore spoke at length about the image— and responsibility— of Asian Americans (like AAHOA members) and encouraged them to “keep up the good work” in the building of a better America for everyone. He also emphasized the importance of family values, thereby touching on AAHOA concerns regarding the likelihood of the next generation following their “founding fathers [and mothers]” into the family business of lodging and hospitality. Additionally, Gore’s remarks about the economy in general, and the financial well-being of the hotel industry in particular, suggested too much of the lodging arena has neither come all the way back from the depths of the recent recession nor fully recovered from the business shockwave generated by the events of Sept. 11. Essentially, the Tennessee politico maintained there’s still a ways to go, and a lot of hard work left to do. Other topics explored by Wednesday’s speakers included Nair’s examination of “who Asian Americans are” in the grand U.S. scheme of things. As she noted: “As we are all separate stories, so too are all you AAHOA members.” Accordingly, she offered the gathering of hoteliers here “have a golden opportunity to build— and polish— the Asian American image in this country.” Finally, following Smith’s multi-media presentation detailing current trends in occupancy, room rate and supply/demand data for the lodging industry, Bennett stepped forward to deliver a largely uni-dimensional message emphasizing the importance of education…particularly for the next generation of Americans. As such, his was a message not at all lost on the audience, considering the driving premise of virtually every AAHOA meeting and conference is that of education (as well as networking).
Al Gore