Business
More African American entrepreneurs accessing hotel franchises
Over the last decade the hotel industry has made small but significant steps.
In 2001 there was only one branded hotel owned by an African-American. Today there are more than 500 African-American owned hotels.
The biggest push has come from several hotel conglomerates which have launched incentives to encourage minorities to franchise their brand. Hotels, such as Marriott to Hilton to Choice, are spending vast amounts of time and money hiring and educating would-be minority entrepreneurs about the benefits of hotel ownership.
The reason behind this is simple: economics. “The only way our business can grow is through the development of franchises,” says Brian Parker, vice president of Emerging Markets & New Business at Choice Hotels International.
Under the Emerging Markets division, Parker leads a team to recruit African-Americans, Native Americans and Hispanics interested in diversifying their investment portfolios.
The biggest stumbling block for many black entrepreneurs has always been the large capital outlays needed to finance real estate projects. Often they are unable to independently raise the cash and can face resistance from lenders because of their race and relative lack of experience.