News (Noticias) Tagged ‘Hispanic Hotel Owners Association’

In the highest honor that can be bestowed on an individual by the Hispanic Hotel Owners Association (HHOA), President and Partner of Tecton Hospitality and Desires Hotels, Raul Leal was named the first Estrella Award’s Hotelier of the Year. Leal was selected by an independent panel of judges as someone who exemplifies leadership and commitment to the highest standards in the hotel industry. The award also recognizes Leal as the person who has made the greatest contribution to the well-being of the Association during the year-based on the following criteria: career accomplishments, reputation in the industry and community involvement. When asked about the award Leal said, “I am so appreciative; this moment was definitely one of the highlights of my career!” Nominations were open to all industry professionals of Latino decent and companies owned and/or operated by a Latino.
The Estrella Awards are an honor by the HHOA, a non-profit organization whose mission is to increase the number of Hispanic-owned, -developed and -operated hotels. Additionally, they aim to further the participation of Hispanic-owned suppliers serving the industry and increase executive level employment opportunities for Hispanics within the lodging industry.
Leal recently spearheaded the effort for 27 associates to participate in Team Build, a Habitat for Humanity project, in raising a home. This is just one more example of a different type of hospitality exhibited by Leal which betters the community and strengthens the organizations’ team spirit.
About Desires Hotels
Desires Hotels is a modern collection of independently created boutique hotels founded in 2005 as the boutique division of Tecton Hospitality. The cornerstone of The Desires brand is the company’s ability to create hotels which are made in the vision of the owner / developer. Desires provides individual strategies focused on driving profits through sophisticated marketing techniques, including the “Your Desires” loyalty program, an innovative website, strong relationships with the travel trade, and strategic marketing partnerships. Desires branding success delivers profits by using a successful model of operational synergies, finance, sales and marketing, and human resource management. Desires Hotels offers a complete and comprehensive hotel management tailored to the needs of each property.
The Desires portfolio currently includes the award-winning 93 room, Sagamore Hotel, and the 87-room condo hotel The Strand Ocean Drive in Miami Beach, FL, the San Juan Water & Beach Club in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the 100-room Iron Horse Hotel in Milwaukee, the 229-room Hotel Mela in New York City. Scheduled to open in late 2008 is the 63-room Betsy Hotel on Ocean Drive in South Beach.
To learn more about how Desires Hotels means business, visit www.desireshotels.com/%20corporate or call 305.577.8484. “

The Hispanic Hotel Owners Association (HHOA), a rapidly growing non-profit organization that seeks to increase Latino ownership of hotels, today announced that it will hold its First Hotel, Development and Investment Conference, October 8-10 at the Doral Resort and Spa in Miami, Fla. Hilton Hotels Corporation is the title sponsor.
The international conference will provide current trends, forecasts and expert panels on Latino hotel ownership, development and management in South America, the United States, Central America and Mexico. Particular emphasis will focus on the hotel industry in Chile, Mexico, Panama and Costa Rica.
“The Hispanic community is heavily involved in the operations of hotels, with Spanish spoken at approximately 90 percent of all hotels in the region,” said Angela Gonzalez-Rowe, founder and president of the Hispanic Hotel Owners Association. “Historically, the Latino community has not been a major player in ownership, largely because of the hotel industry’s complexity and understanding of investment opportunities. That is why HHOA was founded to educate the Hispanic community and provide a forum to exchange ideas and build networking relationships. We now have more than 300 members and significant support from the leading hotel companies. HHOA members have been involved in the acquisition or development of nearly 50 hotels in the past 12 months and we see that number accelerating.”
The conference is targeted to both current owners and companies and individuals who want to learn more about hotel investment opportunities. Attendees will include owners, investors, high net worth individuals, financing companies, hotel brands, management companies and organizations that support hotel ownership and development.
More than 30 speakers and experts will discuss a wide array of topics, including development, finance, operations, legal and special investment tracks on Latin America and the U.S. Keynote speakers include Peter Yesawich, CEO of Ypartnership; Olivier Poroit, President Accor North America; Peter Strebble, President Wyndham Hotels Group, and Michael Gallegos, President & CEO American Property Management Corporation. A sampling of other speakers includes Mark Woodworth, president of PKF Hospitality Research, Jim Butler, partner Jeffer, Mangels, Butler & Marmaro and Carlos Rodriguez, Executive VP Real Estate, Developments & Acquisitions of Driftwood Hospitality & President of DVI Cardel/Rodblu Funds.
The event will kick off with a “Battle of the Brands,” a competitive fun challenge between four brands who will set up an exclusive cocktail reception area. Attendees will vote on the “best brand,” giving it the bragging rights for the ensuing year. Some of the world’s most famous Hispanic chefs also will be on hand to create special dishes with a Latin American flair in a Culinary Master Competition.
The conference will feature an exhibit and business exchange area for brands and industry vendors, who can schedule one-on-one appointments with attendees.
The event will conclude on Friday evening with a Party for a Purpose, a special function to raise funds to underwrite scholarships for Latino students. Cost to attend the conference is $595 and $100 to attend the Party for a Purpose fundraiser.
Attending owners also will have the opportunity to attend a special review class and take the Certified Hotel Owner exam by the Educational Institute of the American Hotel and Lodging Association.
Corporate sponsors include Corporate sponsors include Hilton Hotels Corporation, Marriott International, Wyndham Worldwide Corporation, La Quinta, Hyatt, Accor North America, Choice Hotels International, Carlson Hotels Worldwide and InterContinental Hotel Group.
About HHOA
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., HHOA is a non-profit organization whose mission is to increase the number of Hispanic-owned, -developed and -operated hotels, further the participation of Hispanic-owned suppliers serving the hotel industry and increase executive level employment opportunities for Hispanics within the lodging industry. The industry’s leading brands, including Hilton Hotels Corporation, Marriott International, Choice Hotels International, Wyndham Worldwide Corporation and Global Hyatt Corporation have joined the organization and have become major corporate sponsors.
HHOA membership is open to hotel owners, developers, investors, financiers, real estate executives, investment bankers, professional advisors, analysts, franchisors, management company executives, industry product and service providers, hotel general managers, hotel sales and marketing managers, government agencies for tourism and development, hospitality schools, hospitality students or anyone seeking to do business within the Hispanic market.
Additional information about HHOA is available at the association’s Web site, www.hhoa.org. To learn more about the Hotel Investment Series, contact Angela Gonzalez-Rowe at 202-587-5707, or www.hhoa.org. “

The Hispanic Hotel Owners Association (HHOA), a rapidly growing non-profit organization that seeks to increase Latino ownership of hotels, today announced that its members have either acquired or began development on 48 hotels in the past 12 months. The organization has more than 300 members and continues to attract both existing and potential Hispanic hotel owners and investors at a rapid pace.
“Obviously, this has been an untapped market,” said Angela Gonzalez-Rowe, founder and president of the Hispanic Hotel Owners Association. “Because hotels arguably are the most complex real estate class, investment can be quite intimidating. Through our Hotel Investment Series, we have been able to attract more than 115 Hispanics who have the financial strength and want to learn more about the investment opportunities in the industry. Many are invested in other segments of hospitality, such as restaurants, and this is a natural extension for them.”
Of the 48 new Hispanic-owned, 12 have been through acquisitions and 34 are hotels in development. More than 80 percent are branded properties. The hotels range from the limited-service to luxury segments.
“When HHOA was founded, we could identify less than 1 percent of hotels in the U.S. that were Hispanic-owned,” she pointed out. “In less than two years, that number has increased dramatically. We are on target with our goal of having at least 500 Latino-owned, U.S. hotels by 2011.
“Our members are developing in urban, suburban and resort locations,” she noted. “In many cases, they are pioneering new locations. For example, the Finvarb Group, which has four hotels in development, broke ground on the first Hispanic-owned hotel in Washington, D.C.”
HHOA’s Hotel Investment Series offers three separate tracks, ranging from introduction to hotels to advanced investment strategies. The organization works closely with many of the leading brands, including Hilton Hotels Corporation, Marriott International, Choice Hotels International, Wyndham Worldwide Corporation, IHG, Accor North America, Carlson, LaQuinta and Global Hyatt Corporation, all of whom are sponsors. The organization will hold its first annual Hotel, Development and Investment Conference, October 8-10 at the Doral Resort and Spa in Miami, Fla.
About HHOA
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., HHOA is a non-profit organization whose mission is to increase the number of Hispanic-owned, -developed and -operated hotels, further the participation of Hispanic-owned suppliers serving the hotel industry and increase executive level employment opportunities for Hispanics within the lodging industry.
HHOA membership is open to hotel owners, developers, investors, financiers, real estate executives, investment bankers, professional advisors, analysts, franchisors, management company executives, industry product and service providers, hotel general managers, hotel sales and marketing managers, government agencies for tourism and development, hospitality schools, hospitality students or anyone seeking to do business within the Hispanic market.
Additional information about HHOA is available at the association’s Web site, www.hhoa.org. To learn more about the Hotel Investment Series, contact Angela Gonzales-Rowe at 202-587-5707, or www.hhoa.org.”

The Hispanic Hotel Owners Association (HHOA), a rapidly growing non-profit organization that seeks to increase Latino ownership of hotels, today announced that it will hold part one of a three-session series of International Hotel Investment Seminars May 28-29 at the Wyndham Phoenix in Arizona. The HHOA-developed seminars were created to inform high-net worth Hispanic investors about available hotel ownership opportunities.

“This first part of our on-going series continues to draw attendance in numbers that surpass our expectations,” said Angela Gonzalez-Rowe, founder and president of the Hispanic Hotel Owners Association. “While the Hispanic community often provides the backbone for a hotel’s behind-the-scenes operations, there has been a dearth of ownership opportunities. As more and more Latinos move into higher income brackets, that is rapidly changing. Our goal is to provide this financially capable group with information about the benefits of hotel ownership and investment.”"*

The Hispanic Hotel Owners Association (HHOA), a rapidly growing non-profit organization that seeks to increase Latino ownership of hotels, today announced that it will hold the first session of a three-part series of International Hotel Investment Seminars on February 12 and 13 at the Marriott East Side Hotel in Manhattan. The seminars, developed by HHOA, are designed to provide basic information to high-net worth Latino investors about the opportunities available for hotel ownership.

“This is our fourth session and our first in the Northeast,” said Angela Gonzalez-Rowe, founder and president of the Hispanic Hotel Owners Association. “Attendance at our inaugural series last year surpassed our expectations, and we are looking forward to that kind of positive response this year. The fact that we consistently attract a greater number of participants than we expect tells me that we are successfully filling an information void.

“Our goal has been to demystify the process of hotel ownership and investment, particularly for Latinos who have the interest and the necessary financial resources to invest in hotels, but lack the information,” she said. “Our sessions focus on the basics of hotel ownership, from site selection to franchising, hotel management to financing, and provide the kind of practical information a potential owner needs to get started.”

“The hotel industry has been in a solid uptrend for the past few years, but the economy and credit markets will offer some unique challenges in 2008 for would-be hoteliers,” said Omar Rodriguez, chairman of the Hispanic Hotel Owners Association. “With the predicted economic slowdown and a more restrained lending environment, knowing how to deal with these conditions and how to avoid the pitfalls will be key. Having the right information can help turn today’s challenges into opportunities. HHOA’s objective is to provide the kind of information that will allow Latinos with the financial resources to take advantage of these opportunities.”

The New York Hotel Investment Seminar will focus on the basics of hotel investment, beginning with an overview of the hotel industry. Topics include hotel development versus hotel acquisition; market, product and site selection; why invest in the hotel industry; hotel branding; and capital sources and financing. Other sessions will discuss franchising, hotel management, property valuation, hotel management and investment exit strategies. Participants will hear speakers from a broad cross-section of major hotel brands, management companies and consultants, as well as a number of Hispanic hoteliers, including Raul Leal, president of Tecton Hospitality, and the Desires Hotel Portfolio, a Miami-based hotel management company.

Corporate sponsors include Hilton Hotels Corporation, Marriott International, Wyndham Worldwide Corporation, LaQuinta, Accor North America, Choice Hotels International, Hotel & Motel Management Magazine and Hotel World Network.

HHOA will continue the seminar series in 2008 in Chicago on April 22 and 23 and in Los Angeles on July 1 and 2. The organization will hold its inaugural Hispanic Hotel Investment Conference in October 2008 in Miami, Fla.”

The Hispanic Hotel Owners Association (HHOA), a rapidly growing non-profit organization that seeks to increase Latino ownership of hotels, today announced that it will hold the third in a series of International Hotel Investment Seminars on December 3 and 4 at the Adolphus Hotel in Dallas. The Seminars Series, developed by HHOA, is designed to provide basic information to high-net worth Latino investors about the opportunities available for hotel ownership.

Walter Barela, COO of Peak Hospitality, headquartered in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Olivier Poirot, President of Accor North America will present keynote addresses.

“Hotel real estate and investment is arguably one of the most complex of all real estate classes, but also one of the most profitable,” said Angela Gonzalez Rowe, founder and president of the Hispanic Hotel Owners Association. “The goal of the Hotel Investment Series is to outline the basics of hotel ownership from site selection to franchising, hotel management to financing. This session is not a hard sell from hotel companies. Rather, it answers the basic questions about hotel ownership in a series of very low key, informative sessions.”

“This is our third session this year and first in the Southwest. Earlier sessions in Miami and San Diego far surpassed our expectations, with twice the anticipated attendance and growing numbers of participants from Latin America and the Caribbean,” said Omar Rodriguez, Chairman of the Hispanic Hotel Owners Association. “Hispanics represent a large percentage of the hotel industry, but account for less than one percent of the hotel ownership. HHOA’s objective is to increase that percentage by giving Latinos with the financial resources the information they need to invest in a complex industry with high barriers to entry.”

The Dallas Hotel Investment Seminar will focus on the basics of hotel investment, beginning with an overview of the hotel industry. Topics include hotel development versus hotel acquisition; market, product and site selection; why invest in the hotel industry; hotel branding; and capital sources and financing. Other sessions will discuss franchising, hotel management, property valuation, hotel management and investment exit strategies. Participants will hear speakers from a broad cross-section of major hotel brands, management companies and consultants, as well as a number of Hispanic hoteliers.

Corporate sponsors include Hilton Hotels Corporation, Marriott International, Wyndham Worldwide Corporation, LaQuinta, Accor North America, Choice Hotels International, Hyatt Hotels, Hotel & Motel Management Magazine, Hotel World Network, Selther and Pan American Life. American Airlines, the official airline of HHOA, is also a sponsor.

“Since we began this series earlier this year, Latinos in the U.S. have invested more than $150 million in the hotel industry,” said Angela Gonzalez- Rowe. “Latinos living in the U.S. have the financial resources to invest in hotel ownership, and with Latin America’s potential to be at the forefront of an industry expansion, we believe this is an opportune time to begin to harvest those resources, both financial and human.”

HHOA will continue the seminar series into 2008, with seminars scheduled for February 12 and 13 in New York City, April 22 and 23 in Chicago and July 1 and 2 in Los Angeles. The organization will hold its inaugural Hispanic Hotel Investment Conference in October 2008 in Miami, Fl.

About HHOA

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., HHOA is a non-profit organization whose mission is to increase the number of Hispanic-owned, -developed and -operated hotels, further the participation of Hispanic-owned suppliers serving the hotel industry and increase executive level employment opportunities for Hispanics within the lodging industry. The industry’s leading brands, including Hilton Hotels Corporation, Marriott International, Choice Hotels International, Wyndham Worldwide Corporation and Global Hyatt Corporation have joined the organization and have become major corporate sponsors.

HHOA membership is open to hotel owners, developers, investors, financiers, real estate executives, investment bankers, professional advisors, analysts, franchisors, management company executives, industry product and service providers, hotel general managers, hotel sales and marketing managers, government agencies for tourism and development, hospitality schools, hospitality students or anyone seeking to do business within the Hispanic market.

Additional information about HHOA is available at the association’s Web site, www.hhoa.org/. To learn more about the Hotel Investment Series, contact Angela Gonzales-Rowe at 202-587-5707, or

“The Hispanic Hotel Owners Association HHOA, a recently-formed and rapidly growing non-profit organization, today announced that it will hold the second in a series of three national Hotel Investment Seminars for Latinos at the San Diego Doubletree Hotel Downtown August 28 and 29. HHOAs three-part Hotel Investment Seminar Series is targeted to high net-worth Hispanics who may have an interest in investing in and profiting from the hotel industry. The series consists of three successive educational components, beginning with an introduction to the lodging industry and culminating with a sound understanding of hotel ownership and asset management. The first seminar, called Hotel 101 and held June 26 in Miami, attracted twice the number of participants than were anticipated by the organization.”

“The Hispanic Hotel Owners Association HHOA, a recently-formed and rapidly growing non-profit organization, announced today that attendance of more than 60 participants at its first Hotel Investment Series doubled the initial projections. The seminar’s success prompted sponsoring brands to increase their current level of investment to fund more events. A second seminar is in the preliminary planning stages for the West Coast before the end of summer.

“The rapidly growing interest in our Hotel Investment Series and in HHOA’s mission is not a surprise,” said Angela Gonzalez-Rowe, president and founder of Hispanic Hotel Owners Association. “It demonstrates the very clear need for a Latino entry point into an industry where they are grossly underrepresented among the management and ownership ranks. Attendees were high-net worth Hispanics with the means to invest in the hotel industry, from the U.S., as well as from Argentina, Aruba and Colombia. The international participation, the high-profile speakers and the increased commitment of funds by sponsors indicate that HHOA has struck a responsive chord in this industry.””

“Marriott International, Inc. joins Washington, D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and the Hispanic Hotel Owners Association (HHOA) today to break ground on the first Hispanic- owned Marriott hotel in the District of Columbia. The soon-to-be 218-room Courtyard by Marriott, set to open in 2009, will be located in the new NoMA (North of Massachusetts Avenue) Business Improvement District and majority- owned by Robert Finvarb, Esq., of the Finvarb Group. Local business owners Craig Welburn of Welburn Hospitality, Dave Wilmot, Esq. of Harmon, Wilmot, Brown & Bagwell, LLP and local businessmen Thomas Hopkins and Dr. Barron Harvey; will also have partial ownership in the hotel.

“This ground breaking is symbolic of many things,” said Washington, D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty. “It means increased jobs for area residents, growth opportunities for local business owners and forward movement on the up-and- coming NoMA area of the District. It’s great for our city.”

Launched in 2005, the Diversity Ownership Initiative was established to introduce savvy business owners to the hospitality industry and to diversify the company’s ownership base. The goal is to have 500 hotels owned or managed by minorities and/or women by 2010.

“The new Courtyard partnership with Finvarb, Welburn and Wilmot is a great example of Marriott’s Diversity Ownership Initiative,” said Norman K. Jenkins, senior vice president, North American Lodging Development, Marriott International, and champion of the Diversity Ownership Initiative. “We currently have more than 400 hotels that are owned, managed or in the pipeline by diverse owners. We’re well on track to exceed our five-year goal.”

“Marriott’s Diversity Ownership Initiative has opened the door to hotel ownership within the Hispanic community,” said Angela Gonzales-Rowe, president and founder of the Hispanic Hotel Owners Association. “With 25 Hispanic- American owned hotels, opened or in development since its inception, the program is clearly leading the industry.”

Marriott has a long-standing commitment to diversity. This year, the company was named “Top 50 Companies for Diversity” by DiversityInc, “Top 50 Companies for Supplier Diversity” by Hispanic Trends magazine, and has been recognized by Fortune magazine as one of “America’s Most Admired Companies” for the eighth consecutive year. In 2003, Marriott established the Committee for Excellence to monitor ongoing progress in the areas of hotel ownership, human resources and supplier diversity. It is chaired by BET Networks President Debra Lee and has reported recent successes which include a record spend of $400 million with diverse suppliers and an all-time high in diverse appointments to management positions.

The soon-to-be Courtyard by Marriott will feature a green roof and showcase elements of the brand’s “reinvented” strategy, which applies creative guest room and lobby elements to newly opened hotels. One of the new design features is the console desk design, which offers movable casters, an increased workspace, additional power outlets, and improved lighting to increase productivity. The hotel will be included among new NoMA residents - U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), XM Satellite Radio, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, Kaiser Permanente, and CNN.

For more information on Marriott’s Diversity Ownership Initiative, diversity programs or the Courtyard by Marriott brand, visit www.marriott.com.

About HHOA

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., HHOA is a non-profit organization whose mission is to increase the number of Hispanic-owned, -developed and -operated hotels, further the participation of Hispanic-owned suppliers serving the hotel industry and increase executive level employment opportunities for Hispanics within the lodging industry. Marriott International, Inc. is a corporate sponsor. Additional information about HHOA is available at the association’s Web site, www.hhoa.org/.

About NoMA

Approved by the District of Columbia Council in March 2007, the BID supports the emergence of NoMa as one of the District’s most exciting mixed- use neighborhoods. Through a special assessment collected from NoMA’s commercial property owners, the BID will help make NoMA safe, clean, and attractive for businesses, residents, and visitors. Private developers are investing more than $1 billion over the next year with plans to develop over 20 million square feet of office, residential, hotel, and retail space in the 35-block area covered by the NoMA BID over the next 20 years. The NoMA BID, served by the New York Avenue Metro station, is bounded generally by Massachusetts Avenue on the south, North Capitol Street on the west, and Q and R Streets on the north; it extends eastward just beyond the CSX/Metrorail tracks. For more information about the BID, including a map, see the BID Website at www.nomabid.org.

MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL, INC. is a leading lodging company with nearly 2,900 lodging properties in the United States and 67 other countries and territories. Marriott International operates and franchises hotels under the Marriott, JW Marriott, The Ritz-Carlton, Renaissance, Residence Inn, Courtyard, TownePlace Suites, Fairfield Inn, SpringHill Suites and Bulgari brand names; develops and operates vacation ownership resorts under the Marriott Vacation Club International, Horizons, The Ritz-Carlton Club and Grand Residences by Marriott brands; operates Marriott Executive Apartments; provides furnished corporate housing through its Marriott ExecuStay division; and operates conference centers. The company is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and has approximately 151,000 employees at 2006 year-end. In fiscal year 2006, Marriott International reported sales from continuing operations of $12.2 billion. For more information or reservations, please visit our web site at www.marriott.com.”

“The Hispanic Hotel Owners Association (HHOA), a recently-formed and rapidly growing non-profit organization, announced today that it will hold a Hotel Investment Seminar for Latinos at the JW Marriott Miami, June 26-27. The event is targeted to high net-worth Hispanics who may have an interest in investing in and profiting from the hotel industry. This is the first Hotel Investment Seminar to be held in Miami and the second the organization has conducted in the past six months.

“Hispanics are the largest and fastest growing minority group in the United States,” said Ernesto de la Fe, managing director of Morgan Stanley, Miami and an HHOA board member. “Miami and Southern Florida has one of the largest concentrations of Latino wealth in the United States. Hispanics make up a sizeable portion of the hospitality industry workforce but own less than one percent of the hotels. These seminars are a major step to change that.”

dela Fe noted that the hotel real estate and investment can appear daunting to an outsider. “Hotels arguably are one of the most complex of all real estate classes, but also one of the most profitable,” he noted. “The goal of the Hotel Investment Series is to explain the basics of hotel ownership from site selection to franchising, hotel management to financing. This session is not a hard sell from hotel companies. Rather, it answers the basic questions about hotel ownership in a series of very low key, informative sessions.”

Senior representatives from Hilton Hotels Corporation, Marriott International, InterContinental Hotels Group, Wyndham Worldwide Corporation, Global Hyatt Corporation and Choice Hotels International, as well as representatives from finance companies, management firms, law firms, industry consultants and others will provide an overview of the industry and the risks and opportunities. Representatives from Florida International University (FIU), School of Hospitality and Tourism Management will provide speakers and support for the event. FIU is the largest Hispanic student-serving organization in the United States. Hotel Business, a leading industry publication, also is sponsoring the event.

Sessions begin with an overview of the hotel industry and include such other topics as hotel development versus hotel acquisition; market, product and site selection; why invest in the hotel industry; hotel branding; and capital sources and financing. Other sessions will discuss franchising, hotel management, property valuation, hotel management and investment exit strategies.

“Since we began this series earlier his year, more than $120 million of investment in hotels by Hispanics in the U.S. has gotten underway,” said Angela Gonzalez-Rowe, president and founder of Hispanic Hotel Owners Association. “Preliminary studies indicate that nearly 30,000 Hispanics living in the U.S. have the financial resources to invest in hotel ownership. And, Latin America is at the forefront of international expansion for the hotel industry. We will be expanding into that region in the near future. We believe that Hispanic hotel ownership will rise dramatically over the next decade.”

About HHOA

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., HHOA is a non-profit organization whose mission is to increase the number of Hispanic-owned, -developed and -operated hotels, further the participation of Hispanic-owned suppliers serving the hotel industry and increase executive level employment opportunities for Hispanics within the lodging industry. The industry’s leading brands, including Hilton Hotels Corporation, Marriott International, Choice Hotels International, InterContinental Hotels Group, Wyndham Worldwide Corporation and Global Hyatt Corporation have joined the organization and have become major corporate sponsors.

HHOA membership is open to hotel owners, developers, investors, financiers, real estate executives, investment bankers, professional advisors, analysts, franchisors, management company executives, industry product and service providers, hotel general managers, hotel sales and marketing managers, government agencies for tourism and development, hospitality schools, hospitality students or anyone seeking to do business within the Hispanic market.

Additional information about HHOA is available at the association’s Web site, www.hhoa.org/. To learn more about the Hotel Investment Series, contact Angela Gonzales-Rowe at 202-587-5707, or www.hhoa.org/.

Contact: Jerry Daly, Chris Daly Daly Gray Public Relations (703) 435-6293 jerry@dalygray.com The Hispanic Hotel Owners Association

CONTACT: Jerry Daly or Chris Daly, both of Daly Gray Public Relations
for The Hispanic Hotel Owners Association, +1-703-435-6293,
jerry@dalygray.com

Web site: www.hhoa.org/ “

“The Hispanic Hotel Owners Association HHOA, a newly-formed non-profit organization intended to support and promote the Hispanic community within the hospitality industry, today announced that in only five months since its formation, its membership has reached 175. HHOA officially announced its launch on September 22, 2006.

“The overwhelming membership interest and response were getting is great, and its what we anticipated,” said Angela Gonzalez-Rowe, president and founder of Hispanic Hotel Owners Association. “Hispanics are the largest and fastest growing minority group in the United States. HHOA was founded to support Hispanic hoteliers and vendors and create points of entry for Hispanics who have the ability and desire to succeed in the hospitality industry. Our rapidly growing membership rolls clearly demonstrate the opportunity vacuum that HHOA is meant to fill.”"

“Officials of the Hispanic Hotel Owners Association HHOA announced Marriott International, Inc NYSE: MAR - News as a Corporate Founding Partner and that the HHOA was awarded a $100,000 grant from the Washington-based hotel leader to support new initiatives and programs.

As a Corporate Founding Partner, Marriott will play an integral part in a new program designed to communicate the advantages and benefits of hotel ownership to the Hispanic community. Marriott also will have a role in the organization’s 2007 inaugural national conference later this year.

“The response to and support of the formation of HHOA from Marriott and the hotel community has been very gratifying,” said Omar Rodriguez, chairman of the HHOA and president of Rodriguez & Associates, a hotel development, architectural and design firm. “Hispanic-owned businesses in the United States are growing three times faster than the national average for all firms and generating more than $220 billion in annual revenue, which makes them a highly attractive candidate for hotel investment. With Marriott’s support, we intend to become a catalyst for bringing the Latino and hospitality communities together for the benefit of both.”

“As an industry leader, we are continuously identifying opportunities to diversify our ownership base and we wholeheartedly support the concept behind HHOA,” said Norman K. Jenkins, senior vice president, North American Lodging Development, Marriott International. “This is an excellent vehicle for Marriott to expand its growing relationship with the Hispanic community, including developers and suppliers. There are nearly 30,000 Hispanic businesses each generating at least $1 million in annual revenues, with three out of 10 of those companies involved in construction, so we are very much interested in this emerging market. We look forward to building a mutually rewarding relationship with HHOA.”

Marriott International, Inc. has a long-standing history and commitment to diversity. The company has been recognized for its initiatives with supplier diversity, human resources and hotel ownership by the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce as well as Latina Style, Hispanic Business, and DiversityInc magazines.

About HHOA

Headquartered in Washington, D.C, HHOA is a newly formed non-profit organization whose mission is to increase the number of Hispanic owned, developed and operated hotels, further the participation of Hispanic owned suppliers serving the hotel industry and increase executive level employment opportunities within the lodging industry. Additional information is available at the association’s Web site http://www.hhoa.org.”

“The Hilton Hotels Corporation became a Founding Corporate Partner of the Hispanic Hotel Owners Association (HHOA). Hilton provided the initial funds required for the association’s formation and preliminary development.

“From its inception, Hilton Hotels Corporation has been supportive of our vision,” said Angela Gonzalez-Rowe, president and founder of HHOA”