Motel operators turn to Gujarati-Spanish phrasebook

Washington, Aug 10 (UNI) An 80-page Gujarati-Spanish phrase book is helping motel owners, more than one third of them who are Indian Gujaratis, to conduct their business efficiently in the United States.

According to the Asian American Hotel Owners Association, to keep pace with the multi-lingual environment prevailing in many states due to the influx of Hispanics, many motel operators are now turning to the Gujarati-Spanish phrasebook. This 80-page booklet contains commonly used phrases and was developed for hotel owners and is now in the process of being expanded and more widely distributed by the end of 2006.

At several of these motels, owned by Indian-Americans, it is very common to see the motel operator speaking to customers in English, his maintenance staff in Spanish and his wife or other relatives in Gujarati or Hindi.

Thus many Gujarati-speaking hotel franchisees and Spanish-speaking employees in places like Texas and California led Nicole Johnson-Reece of Wyndham Worldwide Corp to request a Gujarati-Spanish dictionary from the Multicultural Foodservice and Hospitality Alliance, an industry group that has made other language guides.

The result was the 80-page, pocket-sized book featuring phrases useful when running a hotel or motel, such as ''please unclog the drain'' and ''inspect the room for all items left behind.'' The books have been especially popular at smaller ''limited'' hotels, half of which are owned by Indians.

The Gujarati-Spanish guide sold about 10,000 copies in 2005. Most were bought by hotel owners, but some were bought by Indians who owned convenience stores or construction businesses.

There are some in the family of the motel owners who perhaps are involved in the business but don't have total command over English so it's much easier for them to see it in Gujarati.

The guide was first available only to Cendant Corp franchisees, now Wyndham Worldwide, although members of the Asian hotel owners group received copies of it at a conference in 2005. The popularity has driven the association to create another guide with more customer-related phrases to be released by the end of the year.

The growing demand for this guide is also a reflection of how the Gujaratis, especially the Patels, have come to dominate the hotel-motel industry in the United States. The last name ''Patel,'' means landowner, farmer or merchant. And true to its origin, Patels dominate the hotel-motel industry throughout the United States.

Many Gujaratis, with a born acumen for business, run their lodging businesses with the help of family members, who are sponsored to come help the business and very often live in the hotels themselves. It's an efficient way for these Indian immigrants to get their lives started in the US, according to the Asian American Hotel Owners Association.

The close networking of Gujaratis has also helped pass along the motel business idea to many younger generations of Indian Americans.

UNI XC SI RS0953