Ashwin “Ash” Patel
Chairman, Southwest Regional Director
Asian American Hotel Owners Association
Ashwin "Ash" Patel was born and raised in Luanshya, Zambia. His high
school education was in Baroda, India. He completed one year of
university education in Bombay (Mumbai) 1981. Ash emigrated to the U.S.
in 1984 and enrolled at Mercer University in Atlanta, Georgia, with an
emphasis in management and marketing.
In 1992, Ash entered the lodging industry as a resident manager and
partner of a 54-unit Econo Lodge in Flagstaff, Arizona. In 2004, Ash
started Southwest Hospitality Management, LLC, a Flagstaff-based
management company with ownership interests in hotels that have
affiliations with a variety of national chains such as Choice Hotels,
Cendant Hotels, Mariott Hotels, InterContinental Hotels, and Best
Western International among others.
Ash served as the president of the Flagstaff Innkeepers Association
for three years, from December 1999 to June 2003, and currently serves
as ex-officio on the board. In 2003, he became a member of the Franchise
Advisory Committee for Days Inns of America, which represents 2000
hotels and franchisees of this brand.
Ash was elected to the Asian American Hotel Owners Association
(AAHOA) as the Southwest Regional Director in 2003. He also serves on
the AAHOA Government Affairs Committee Chair and is the AAHOA PAC Chair.
Ash was elected treasurer in 2005, secretary in 2006, vice chairman in
2007, and chairman in 2008.
In his position as AAHOA Government Affairs Committee Chair and PAC
chair from 2004-2008, Ash has lobbied on behalf of AAHOA, its members
and the lodging industry He has also lobbied for the legislative
passage of the Civil Nuclear Cooperation Initiative between the US and
India. This legislation, which passed, will bring a higher level of
cooperation between the two countries as well as improved technology for
India to support its civil nuclear power needs. He also met with the
likes of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and various Senators and
Congresspersons from both parties during his efforts at the
nation’s capitol in Washington, DC. He has also met with Cabinet
representatives to work towards a fair ADA act legislation since the
hospitality industry has been plagued with frivolous lawsuits stemming
from this Act. Ash continues to work not only in the nation’s
capital but also at various state and local levels to protect the
interests of both the lodging industry and businesses in general.
In 2006 and 2007 Ash served as a founding director of the nationally
chartered bank Premier Commercial Bank of AZ, incorporated in Mesa, AZ.
This bank was opened and sold in a very short period of time and was a
sister bank of Premier Commercial bank of Orange County, which continues
to operate and flourish in Anaheim, CA.
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