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How Indian Americans Came to Run Half of All U.S. Motels

nationalgeographic.com

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Re: How Indian Americans Came to Run Half of All U.S. Motels

#11

Post by selimthegrim »

walterbell wrote: post #4
CodeSheikh wrote: post #2

Is the author generalizing other South Asian immigrants as Indian Americans? Or is it factual that Indian-Americans do own 50% of motels in the USA? Because I have seen a lot of Bangladeshis, Pakistanis and even Arabs owning motel businesses across the USA. I am not cleared about this just from reading the article alone.

> About half the country’s motels are now owned by Indian Americans. A majority of these owners are from Gujarat state’s industrious Patel community, leading them to be jokingly referred to as the Patel Motel Cartel. They are mostly from one region of India.

I have to wonder if any Gujarati non-Patel Muslims turned up, would they be getting the same handshake loans?

Re: How Indian Americans Came to Run Half of All U.S. Motels

#12

Post by lotsofpulp »

selimthegrim wrote: post #11
walterbell wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> About half the country’s motels are now owned by Indian Americans. A majority of these owners are from Gujarat state’s industrious Patel community, leading them to be jokingly referred to as the Patel Motel Cartel. They are mostly from one region of India.

I have to wonder if any Gujarati non-Patel Muslims turned up, would they be getting the same handshake loans?

Gujarat is a state in India, where there are a hundred million people or more. A specific tribe of people that happen to have mainly come from Gujarat gave handshake loans to each other, because they are part of the same tribe, and know each other, indirectly or directly. Why would they give handshake loans to just anybody, regardless of their religion or where they came from?

Re: How Indian Americans Came to Run Half of All U.S. Motels

#14

Post by dbcurtis »

bytematic wrote: post #9
stephengillie wrote: post #3

This model has led to success for other immigrant groups in other industries. > Many followed his advice. “They would give each other handshake loans—no collateral, no payment schedule, just pay when you can,” Doshi explains. Once a family purchased a motel, they would live there, and the family members would do all the tasks needed to run it, from cleaning rooms to checking in guests. That helped keep costs down, an…

Could this apply, or have applied, to farms? I bet that would have a lot of interesting social effects.

Could you elaborate on your question? I don’t understand what you are asking.

Re: How Indian Americans Came to Run Half of All U.S. Motels

#15

Post by tomrod »

bytematic wrote: post #9
stephengillie wrote: post #3

This model has led to success for other immigrant groups in other industries. > Many followed his advice. “They would give each other handshake loans—no collateral, no payment schedule, just pay when you can,” Doshi explains. Once a family purchased a motel, they would live there, and the family members would do all the tasks needed to run it, from cleaning rooms to checking in guests. That helped keep costs down, an…

Could this apply, or have applied, to farms? I bet that would have a lot of interesting social effects.

In my area it already does. My Indian colleagues informed me that grocery stores that cater to their culture typically have exclusive agreements with local Indian farmers, which results in significantly reduced prices. I thought that was wonderful--I'm a fan of frugality. I'm curious if this is common in the US in other immigrant communities.

Re: How Indian Americans Came to Run Half of All U.S. Motels

#16

Post by iamgopal »

walterbell wrote: post #4
CodeSheikh wrote: post #2

Is the author generalizing other South Asian immigrants as Indian Americans? Or is it factual that Indian-Americans do own 50% of motels in the USA? Because I have seen a lot of Bangladeshis, Pakistanis and even Arabs owning motel businesses across the USA. I am not cleared about this just from reading the article alone.

> About half the country’s motels are now owned by Indian Americans. A majority of these owners are from Gujarat state’s industrious Patel community, leading them to be jokingly referred to as the Patel Motel Cartel. They are mostly from one region of India.

Not only loan, but a continuous strong investment from exporters from India who do not move that money back to India. ( Just like Apple or other tech giants are doing. )

Re: How Indian Americans Came to Run Half of All U.S. Motels

#19

Post by jessaustin »

cryptozeus wrote: post #13

I am from gujarat, do not own any motel. In my experience I can definitely believe this to be true. Personally know so many people heho owns motels. I am shocked about the 50% though!

No one who travels and stays in small-to-medium-sized hotels is shocked by this. I have a complaint, however. We have so many Indian-Americans distributed all over the nation, and it is still fairly difficult to find good Indian food outside big cities.
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