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Las Vegas has more hotel rooms than Canada," jokes Vinod Patel, unwittingly dwarfing the size of the Canadian hotel industry and underplaying the growing emergence of Asians in the hospitality trade-including himself. As chairman of Northhampton Group Inc, Patel is responsible for the $24.4 million earned in revenues in 2001-a quadrangular leap from the $6 million earned barely five years ago.

INVITING: Four Points Sheraton at Lake Shore Boulevard, Toronto

In fact, Patel represents a growing number of Asian hoteliers emerging as "big players" in the industry. "Indian hoteliers represent 10-15 per cent of the $6.5 billion in hotel transactions across Canada since 1993. But when you look at the budget and mid-market hotels already transacted, that number goes up to 30-40 per cent," says Alam Pirani, managing director, Colliers International Hotels, one of the largest hotel investment advisory services in the country.

And it's a mixed bag of Indians that forms the club: immigrants from India and Africa as well as their second generations who partner locals to form joint ventures. An amalgamation of management strengths and hard cash to create larger assets abound. As do "passive entrepreneurs"-those investing cash in the absence of a booming stock exchange.

GROWING TOGETHER: Taneja and wife Kamni rebuilt Four Points

"We didn't come from India to fool around. You have to make it happen." Pradeep Puri, director, Westin Harbour Castle

On the immigrant front, stories of small town lads becoming millionaires are aplenty. Like hotelier Dave Toor of Manga Group, which earned a revenue of $15 million in 2001. Coming from the lush greenery of Punjab to Canada in 1983 as a newly wedded civil engineer with stars in his eyes, Toor "thought he'd get a job". But learning the hard way that his degree wasn't worth much, he dabbled in odd jobs, the first being fitting chassis on cars. Acknowledging the need to be aggressive, Toor says, "You either hit the road and face the music, or go back."

Starting with a loan and a mortgage on the house for $525,000, it was a 27 room-motel in St Cathryn's that became his first property. Selling it a year later, buying a bigger place and selling that one too, Toor made a neat profit of half-a-million. Today he owns nine franchise hotels.

BUILDING UP: Toor (left) owns nine franchise hotels today

"Real estate is a favourite because it is tangible and gives security."

Suresh, or Steve, Gupta's tale is similar. Landing on Canadian soil 30 years ago with a little more than $108 dollars, this mathematics post- graduate from Punjab grew in stature to become chief of the $50 million-Easton's Group of Hotels. Gupta began by selling insurance for the first four years and then got into the buying and selling of apartments. Fast forward to 2001 and his possessions include a property management company, four hotels and six service stations across Canada.

"But many Asians also came from Africa," says David Larone, national director, Pannell Kerr Forster Consulting Inc, consultants in the hospitality business. "During the depression of the 1990s they bought a lot of equity to the relative prices at the time, and thrived in the business."

CENTRAL LOCATION: One of Gupta's four hotels

While established players dominate the Canadian turf, one does see Indian tyros coming in with a fat bank balance (banks demand at least half in equity). Four years in Toronto, Ashok (Ash) Taneja owns the Sheraton Group's Four Points Sheraton franchisee at Lake Shore Boulevard, a prime tourist attraction in Toronto.

If creating big assets individually proves daunting, then two or more individuals pool resources as Patel, partnering Deepak Ruparel of the Silver Hotel Group, does to invest in various hotels. While Patel is a hands-on operator, Ruparel's forte lies in dealing with structuring and financing.

But having less moolah does not stop Indian born-Canadian Noel Samuels, manager of many hotels, from investing in a hotel. Now a partner of Minaz Rahemtullah of the International Commerce Group, Samuels says, "I made lots of money for people, it's time I made some for myself."

Entrepreneurship levels apart, it's also about spotting opportunities others may not see and picking up cheap deals-an attribute many Asian hoteliers possess. Taneja's Four Points, for instance, was a run-down property and he had to evict notorious elements before rebuilding. Also, Asian hoteliers have bought properties from government receivership and turned them around.

But what seems to underlie the success of Indians is a mix of many factors, as Hari Panday, assistant vice president, HSBC's South Asian Banking, says. "Historically, we come from a country of traders and not a trading nation," he says, and adds, "Then, of course, it's the hunger for survival and risk-taking coupled with hands-on management that completes the picture. Real estate is a favourite because it's tangible and gives a sense of stability," Panday explains.

Adds Pradeep Puri, director of the glitzy Westin Harbour Castle, "We didn't come from India to fool around ... you have to make it happen and the drive and will to succeed runs many of us here. If Friday nights are missed we couldn't care less and many of our spouses aren't complaining either; they understand it's a collective family goal."

Management styles also differ. Says Pirani, "Indian owners are more hands-on in that they manage their properties themselves instead of employing managers as for many this is a job and not just an investment. It's also ingrained in them to look for that last penny, and save on costs."

"We are also involved with the sales and have tighter cost controls," says Taneja, and explains that a purchase requisition has to be routed through him. "Many hotels have various departments that are allowed to sanction purchase requisitions. So money ends up being spent on trivial niceties. I also source suppliers who give me the best deal," he adds.

Then it's also how we look at a property that matters, feels Rahemtullah. "Treating every hotel as a single entity and warrant that it makes money rather than run one at the cost of another often differentiates many Asians from bigger corporations," he says.

And despite the hotel industry being in low gear especially after September 11, consultants and bankers say the Asians are in a better position to handle this downturn. Statistics prove it: 2001 has seen $550 million in transactions compared to $480 million last year in Canada. Interestingly most talk of building despite the doom. As one Indian hotelier says with a wink in his eyes, "Now is the time to buy cheap. This depression is not going to last long."