H&LA’s Anthony DiPonio was recently a guest lecturer at Michigan State University’s Hospitality Valuation Course. As an alum of MSU’s School of Hospitality Business, Anthony’s return to the classroom carried added meaning, allowing him to share industry insights with students following a path similar to his own. The Hospitality Valuation Course has traditionally centered heavily on hotels. Anthony provided a valuable opportunity to expand that lens and introduced students to the world of waterpark and attractions development, a more niche segment in the industry. By presenting all three asset types within a unified feasibility framework, students saw both the analytical consistency across property types and the meaningful differences in how each is evaluated.
For many students, this session marked their first exposure to how waterparks and amusement parks are analyzed from a feasibility and valuation perspective. Anthony translated a highly specialized discipline into a clear, relatable framework, helping students understand not just the mechanics of analysis, but the strategic thinking behind it. He emphasized that while hotels benefit from standardized metrics such as occupancy and ADR, attractions operate under a fundamentally different demand model. By walking through real-world examples from H&LA’s assignments, he demonstrated how attendance patterns, per-capita spending, and capacity constraints replace traditional lodging metrics and require a different lens for interpreting performance.
Students gained insight into how consultants move from market data to defensible and credible investment conclusions. Anthony highlighted the importance of defining a competitive set correctly, resisting the temptation to anchor projections to high-performing outliers, and grounding forecasts in realistic stabilization timelines. Rather than presenting feasibility as a formula, he framed it as a disciplined decision-making process that blends quantitative analysis with professional judgment.
Perhaps most importantly, the discussion reinforced three core takeaways: market analysis is the foundation of every credible study; data alone is not enough without thoughtful interpretation; and feasibility is about reducing risk and clarifying trade-offs, not eliminating uncertainty. By expanding the conversation beyond hotels, Anthony provided students with a broader understanding of the hospitality industry and a clearer view of how specialized asset knowledge can create value in consulting, development, and investment careers.
