WEST DES MOINES, IOWA (April 5, 2023) — The Iowa Hotel and Lodging Association (IHLA) has announced that Kalpesh Patel, Principal at VKB Management, a family owned and operated hospitality company with seventeen owned hotels located across the state, has joined the recently formed Association’s Board of Directors.
Patel grew up in the hotel industry working side-by-side with his father who started the business with a single hotel in 1977. Patel assumed full-time management of the growing company in 2009 and further modernized and grew the management company. Today, his primary focus is on the operation, development, and construction of new mid-scale hotels.
“Kalpesh will be a strong voice for Iowa’s hotel and lodging industries at the State Capitol, as well in Washington DC,” said IHLA Board Chairman Scott Math, of Heart of America Group. “He is a proven advocate for the entire hospitality industry on issues ranging from taxes to workforce.”
Next month, Patel will be joining the IHLA’s operator delegation in Washington DC to discuss federal issues including on-going COVID recovery in the lodging industry. “We were one of the most negatively impacted industries during COVID shutdowns,” said Patel. “Yet we were the only segment in hospitality that didn’t have a program specifically developed to assist the unique needs of our industry’s recovery. You can’t pivot a guest room into a to-go model like a restaurant. The losses are unrecoverable. I look forward to lending my perspective to the collective industry voice of the IHLA.”
Patel is a resident of West Des Moines. His VKB Management operates a statewide property portfolio which includes hotels associated with brands of Best Western International, Choice Hotels, Marriott International, and Wyndham Hotels.
About the Iowa Hotel & Lodging Association
Founded in 2022, the Iowa Hotel and Lodging Association represents the state’s nearly 1,000 hotel and lodging establishments. In its first year, more than 100 hotel properties have joined the IHLA’s ranks — representing 10% of the state’s lodging establishments. The organization helped significantly expand the number of Iowa hotels to complete the state’s human trafficking-prevention certification. The group was also an integral partner in the administration of Meet in Iowa, a program funded through the Iowa Tourism Office to help increase overnight-hotel stays across the state. Since its roll-out in May 2022, the Meet in Iowa program is credited with increasing a confirmed 4,500 additional hotel-room night-stays across the state with thousands more expected in the coming 12 months. For more information on the Iowa Hotel and Lodging Association, visit hotellodgingiowa.com. For more information on the Meet in Iowa program visit meetinia.com.
