Prof. Jim Deegan
Jim Deegan is the Director of the National Centre for Tourism Policy Studies (NCTPS), University of Limerick(UL) and Professor of Tourism Policy. He is an economist by training and his research interests and publications are in all facets of public policy for tourism. To that end he has co-authored what is recognised as the seminal text on Irish tourism: “Tourism Policy and Performance-The Irish Experience” (1997) and he continually publishes articles in the mainstream tourism and public policy outlets. Jim has undertaken project research on behalf of the Irish Government, The European Commission, The World Bank, Failte Ireland, Tourism Ireland, the Marine Institute and many public and private sector organisations across the world. He has supervised twelve tourism PhD research students to completion in the last ten years and acts as referee for the leading international tourism journals. He has been on the editorial board of the Cornell Quarterly and is currently a member of the editorial board of Tourism Economics.
For many years Jim’s research has focused on the economic impact of tourism and the role that good data plays in policymaking. To that end he was the project leader on Ireland’s pilot Tourism Satellite Account in 2004. In more recent times he has developed a Tourism Expenditure App that measures the actual expenditure of tourists’ in real time and having overcome some major GDPR problems it is expected that numerous academic and policy papers will be published from late 2020 onwards. Simultaneously, he has been working on the measurement of innovation in tourism and in a forthcoming joint research paper he explores the ‘State of innovation in Irish Hotels’.
Michael Vaughan, Hotelier
A 4th Generation Hotelier owns and operates Vaughan Lodge Hotel in Lahinch, County Clare. Michael is an active member and former President of the Irish Hotels Federation and has participated in a number of groups that develop education and training within the industry.
Michael is a Tourism development activist and a passionate advocate for all things that will advance the tourist experience in Ireland.
Dr. Deirdre Curran
College of Business, Public Policy and Law
National University of Ireland Galway
Short Bio
Deirdre Curran has been employed as an academic at NUI Galway for over twenty years. Deirdre holds a PhD in ‘Employment Relations and Law’ and her main areas of research interests are workers experience of work, and mediation as a mechanism for addressing workplace conflict.
Deirdre is an associate researcher with the Kennedy Institute for Conflict Intervention at Maynooth where she leads the Kennedy Institute Workplace Mediation Research Group (KIWMRG). On behalf of the research group Deirdre is currently co-leading a comprehensive research project comparing workplace mediation provisions in Ireland and New Zealand.
Deirdre also currently leads a unique research project exploring working conditions in the hospitality sector in Ireland. The current study forms part of a planned research agenda which includes a comparative international study with colleagues in New Zealand, and a number of case studies highlighting best practice.
