Buddy is the former Director of Florida’s State Fire Marshal’s Office and is internationally known as a fire safety expert. He earned a BA in Economics from Florida Atlantic University, and a MBA from Nova Southeastern University.
Buddy first entered the fire service in 1961 with the New River Fire Department in the Ft. Lauderdale, Florida area. He entered the U.S. Army in 1966, and served in Viet Nam where he was awarded the Bronze Star with “V” Device for Valor and First Oak Leaf Cluster. While stationed in Germany, Captain Dewar performed arson investigations throughout Europe. After leaving the U.S. Army in 1972, he became a member of the Plantation Fire Department where he served as a Battalion Chief. He began his tenure with the State Fire Marshal’s office as a Florida State Fire College Instructor in 1976, later becoming Superintendent of the Florida State Fire College in 1979, and Director of the State Fire Marshal’s Office in 1981 where he served until 1989. Buddy then worked for the National Fire Sprinkler Association for 26 years and retired as Vice President in 2015. He now serves as a fire safety consultant.
Buddy Dewar
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.