IndiaPost.com - First Indian owned hotel franchise holds national conference

India Post News Service

NASHVILLE, TN: Vista® Brand of Hotels held its first Annual National Conference from April 24-26 at the Hotel Preston in Nashville, TN. With a theme like "Defining Hospitality Through Common Visions" this conference was well attended, considering it has only over 30 franchisees in the US. Vista® Brand of Hotels comprises five flags namely, Vista® lodge, Vista ® Inn Express, Vista ® Inn & Suites, Vista ® suites, and Vista ® Resort and is owned by Advantis Hospitality Alliance, LLC.

The Asian American Hotels Owners Association (AAHOA) fully supports this franchise. Dr Saraswat, Vista ® founder and executive board member welcomed all to the first Vista ® conference and spoke of his unpleasant experiences with major franchisors made him consider having the first Indian owned franchise. Dan Patel, past AAHOA Chairman and current VISTA® executive board member, in his speech, mentioned how in reviewing the hotel industry has created this company's philosophy.

A seasoned hotelier himself, Patel knows that franchisees need to have fair rules in order for both franchisees and franchisors to make money. "At Vista ®, we have removed the restrictions and the high cost to operate your hotel.

There is no high cost PMS system, no hassle when property is AAA approved, cost effective vendor partnership program, flexible contracts, and low cost royalty fees. This company is for hoteliers, by hoteliers" said Patel to the attendees. Fred Schwartz, AAHOA President, seconded most of what Patel said and added that asset value for everybody prevails as a shared business endeavor grows.

Ramesh Gokal, of Kapoor & Kapoor Hospitality Consultants, Inc. and a 27yr veteran of the hospitality industry gave a moving breakdown of the future of the hospitality industry. He said good operators not only recover faster but actually gain more when things get better while the not so good operators don't recover as much and a mediocre operator will be forced into failure. Billboard signs will be taken over by the web, the most valuable currency will not be dollars and cents but rather hours and minutes, and urged hoteliers to change their systems that appreciated the customer needs. Also, training front desk clerks to effectively sell rooms on the phone as most savvy customers will go on websites and then call hotels directly to book rooms and save money.

Today, the USA has more supply than demand of hotel rooms but amazingly the industry has marketed itself extremely effectively. The average occupancy rate has hovered around an average of 60 percent for the longest time. Occupancies are steady; ADRs are climbing at a higher rate than the consumer price index. International travel continues to be robust. Last year, International travel went up by 6.7 percent and now represents l0.3 percent of the room demand. Also invited to speak was Tom Negri of AH&LA who discussed the initiatives put forward by AH&LA in Washington and urged everyone to talk to their local and federal legislators on Immigration issues, terrorism insurance, group health insurance, ADA requirements and so on. Past AAHOA Chairman, and current Vista executive board member, Ramesh Surati had a few words of wisdom for the attendees and also said that Vista Hotels brand is the change hoteliers were waiting for. Kelly Harvel, Executive Director and President of Vista ®, was proud to see the brand grow so rapidly. The first Vista ® hotel opened in February 2005 in Murfreesboro, TN.

The revenue has grown from l.5 percent in 2005 to 7.5 percent in 2006. He unveiled the Vista ® initiatives such as a rate card program, hotel to hotel referral program,coupon website vistarate.com for hotels for walk-in business, group sales initiatives, 25 percent franchisee referral program, formation of Sales and Marketing and Standards and Policy committees and franchisor, brand and vendor partners working together to provide the most effective hotel brand in the industry. Also, the re-design for the new vistarez.com website, including each franchisee having their own stand alone website, was outlined with e-commerce attributes.

The Vista® Brand of Hotels also has a prototype but is not mandatory to be used when building new property. Conversions are welcome, as long as, they are AAA approved; they promise property improvement plans will not be required. Keynote speaker, AAHOA Chairman, Danny Patel fully supports Vista franchise as it embraces the twelve points of fair franchising put together by AAHOA for franchisors. In an unprecedented gesture he presented Dr Saraswat and Kelly Harvel the AAHOA 12 points pin and also said that AAHOA will provide all Vista franchisees free CHO programs.

The evening ended with committee introductions and 2007 initiatives, special guest acknowledgements, vendor appreciation, grand sponsor appreciation, awards and entertainment.