Dr. Joseph Hegarty M.Ed., Ed. D is an educator, author, and international consultant. He has 35+ years experience as a professional manager with innovative organizations including, international and local hotels in management/proprietorship, a full academic career in professional vocational & higher education institutions, and as a published hospitality & culinary education researcher.
He holds a Doctoral Degree in Education from University of Sheffield. A Masters Degree in Education from Trinity College Dublin and a Diploma in Hotel Management from Shannon College of Hotel Management.
He is Past Treasurer/President/Chairman of EuroCHRIE 1996-2000; Director-at-Large CHRIE International 1999-2000; Past Vice-President Association Mondiale pour la Formation Hoteliere et Touristique (AMFORHT) 1998-2001; Fellow of the Irish Hotel and Catering Institute (1994); Lifetime member of International Institute for Quality and Ethics in Service and Tourism (IIQEST) (since 1992) and Member of the Board of Senior Associates at International Washington-based Tourism Policy, Forum (1989).
Joseph Hegarty M.Ed
Lodging Econometrics has tracked the hotel industry since 1998. Its global database includes new-hotel pipelines as well as renovations and brand conversions. Hotel franchisers once eager to launch new brands are focused on converting existing hotels because it’s a faster way to recover revenue lost to the COVID-19 pandemic than through new construction. In Episode 346, Lodging Leaders explores the increasing number of conversions in the U.S. hotel industry and what owners and operators need to consider before repositioning an asset.
In the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S., financiers anticipated a swell of distressed hotel businesses. Some raised rescue funds to respond to what they thought was a pending crisis. Though there are financial rescues taking place, the level of such activity is far below what industry advisers and fund managers expected. Commercial real estate investors positioned to act in the early days of the pandemic held off and are now just beginning to unleash their cash hoards totaling billions of dollars. Episode 345 of Lodging Leaders podcast explores the state of capital investment in the hotel industry.