Rahul Patel, chairman of the Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA), the largest such grouping in the US, told ET that proprietors had expected the World Cup to create a “larger wave” of advance reservations. AAHOA’s 20,000 members own 60% of the hotels in the US ranging from luxury to economy and say they contribute over $ 370 billion to the national GDP. More than one million employees work at AAHOA member-owned hotels, earning $51.3 billion annually.