MIAMI, Fla./WASHINGTON, D.C., June 14, 2007� The Hispanic Hotel Owners Association (HHOA), a recently-formed and rapidly growing non-profit organization, announced today that it will hold a Hotel Investment Seminar for Latinos at the JW Marriott Miami, June  26-27.  The event is targeted to high net-worth Hispanics who may have an interest in investing in and profiting from the hotel industry.  This is the first Hotel Investment Seminar to be held in Miami and the second the organization has conducted in the past six months.  
�Hispanics are the largest and fastest growing minority group in the United States,� said Ernesto de la Fe, managing director of Morgan Stanley, Miami and an HHOA board member.  �Miami and Southern Florida has one of the largest concentrations of Latino wealth in the United States.  Hispanics make up a sizeable portion of the hospitality industry workforce but own less than one percent of the hotels.  These seminars are a major step to change that.�

dela Fe noted that the hotel real estate and investment can appear daunting to an outsider.  �Hotels arguably are one of the most complex of all real estate classes, but also one of the most profitable,� he noted.  �The goal of the Hotel Investment Series is to explain the basics of hotel ownership from site selection to franchising, hotel management to financing.   This session is not a hard sell from hotel companies.  Rather, it answers the basic questions about hotel ownership in a series of very low key, informative sessions.�

Senior representatives from Hilton Hotels Corporation, Marriott International, InterContinental Hotels Group, Wyndham Worldwide Corporation, Global Hyatt Corporation and Choice Hotels International, as well as representatives from finance companies, management firms, law firms, industry consultants and others will provide an overview of the industry and the risks and opportunities.  Representatives from Florida International University (FIU), School of Hospitality and Tourism Management  will provide speakers and support for the event.  FIU is the largest Hispanic student-serving organization in the United States.  Hotel Business, a leading industry publication, also is sponsoring the event.
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�Since we began this series earlier his year, more than $120 million of investment in hotels by Hispanics in the U.S. has gotten underway,� said Angela Gonzalez-Rowe, president and founder of Hispanic Hotel Owners Association.   �Preliminary studies indicate that nearly 30,000 Hispanics living in the U.S. have the financial resources to invest in hotel ownership.  And, Latin America is at the forefront of international expansion for the hotel industry.  We will be expanding into that region in the near future.  We believe that Hispanic hotel ownership will rise dramatically over the next decade.�

About HHOA
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., HHOA is a non-profit organization whose mission is to increase the number of Hispanic-owned, -developed and -operated hotels, further the participation of Hispanic-owned suppliers serving the hotel industry and increase executive level employment opportunities for Hispanics within the lodging industry.  The industry�s leading brands, including Hilton Hotels Corporation, Marriott International, Choice Hotels International, InterContinental Hotels Group, Wyndham Worldwide Corporation and Global Hyatt Corporation have joined the organization and have become major corporate sponsors.  HHOA membership is open to hotel owners, developers, investors, financiers, real estate executives, investment bankers, professional advisors, analysts, franchisors, management company executives, industry product and service providers, hotel general managers, hotel sales and marketing managers, government agencies for tourism and development, hospitality schools, hospitality students or anyone seeking to do business within the Hispanic market.