Houston hotel developer and NABHOOD board member James Guillory vows there will be some changes made.

Informal talks with hotel owners, operators and brand spokesmen suggest impatience, if not dissatisfaction, with the National Association of Black Hotel Owners, Operators & Developers. But mere days after the 15th NABHOOD summit and trade show ended at the Doral Golf Resort & Spa in Miami, several of the same people muted their criticism, closing ranks behind the leadership of an event that hasn’t grown significantly in number or evolved much in programming.

At the same time, loyalists said NABHOOD President Andrew Ingraham and NABHOOD Board Chairman Michael Roberts were addressing issues raised during board meetings. Board member responsibility and program refreshment may be tackled within the next three months, they say.

One reason these sources won’t go on record is attendance at NABHOOD, the one hospitality conference dedicated to African-Americans, involves face. Another is they do business there; even if they don’t close deals—Ingraham says none closed this July 20-24 session—they often start them.

Edward Xanders, head of Tallahassee, FL-based Interim Hospitality Consultants, has contributed thousands of dollars to NABHOOD and has worked with 11 hotel companies on 37 hotel brands for 103 NABHOOD projects since 1998. Even he admits there’s a sameness to NABHOOD. That doesn’t detract from its success, however.

“When they started, there were no African-American hotel owners,” he says. “Now there are more than 500.” Under founder Ingraham, the conference brought brands “to the table to expand minority hotel development and ownership,” he says. A presenter himself, Xanders adds there’s a certain “repetitiveness” in programming, but the aspiring hotelier NABHOOD targets still has “to go through the same basic stuff.”

NABHOOD leader Andy Ingraham poses with, from left, Donnie Dawson, deputy director of the Jamaica Tourism Board; Bill Fortier, SVP Development/Americas for Hilton Worldwide; Jamaican Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett; and to his right, Mark Williams, Fortier’s counterpart at Best Western International.

“We do get deals out of it, we always want to get more deals out of it, and we’re always trying to find different avenues to work with Andy and the NABHOOD board,” says Bill Fortier, senior vice president of development/Americas for Hilton Worldwide. “When you look at the success AAHOA’s had, you’re always thinking there’s got to be better ways to reach out to the African-American community and get them involved in the lodging business. It’s just a little slower than I think everybody would have liked.” He suggested deepening alliances with the foodservice industry, citing NABHOOD Charter Board Member Hank Thomas’s ownership of hotels and several McDonald’s franchises.

Another area to examine is succession, at which the Asian-American Hotel Owners Association, the role model for NABHOOD, excels. “Every year you get some new ideas, some fresh thinking,” Fortier says. “How do we expand the membership? Those are some of the things Andy might consider as well, changing board membership. (President) Fred Schwartz has been the consistent businessperson at the helm of AAHOA, like Andy; but AAHOA board members are the operators.”

Fortier says no brand wants to tell Ingraham how to run the show; someone has to be the face of NABHOOD, he adds, but “maybe it’s James Guillory that takes on that role for the next year or two.”

Guillory, president of CenterPointe Hotels and a NABHOOD board member, says he is confident Ingraham will “put out a new plan” within the next three months, noting “we’ve all grown as hotel owners” and must “adjust” to changing market conditions. The board met several times; one gathering took place the morning of July 22, the same time as a panel on the basics of hotel ownership. Houston hotel developer Guillory was set to speak, but Ingraham pulled him out of that panel for the board confab—that Guillory says hadn’t been scheduled until that very day.

“I guarantee you, if there are problems, we will resolve them,” Guillory vows, referring further questions to Ingraham.

Ingraham says no question NABHOOD benefits would-be hoteliers, and more seasoned hospitality players can forge new partnerships there. He also says NABHOOD works with every major hospitality group in the country and was the “catalyst” for formation of the Latino Hotel Association. NABHOOD plans to present its first International Multicultural Tourism Summit in Washington, DC early next year, says Bahamas native Ingraham, who always showcases his Caribbean base at NABHOOD, which drew 293 attendees this year, including 52 students.

“At some point, I want to go out and develop hotels,” he says. “And when that time comes or the board feels I can no longer be useful I’m sure the board will ask me to leave. Or if I’m smart, I’ll leave before that.

“As long as I continue to bring value, I’m sure I will continue to serve at the pleasure of the board and its members.”