Berman Takes Director Slot at Hilton Atlanta

As director of business development, he will be in charge of anything that generates revenue for the hotel such as group guest rooms, catering, event services, public relations and marketing initiatives. He will also oversee the business travel manager and the revenue management team. One of his initiatives in the new position will be "getting the word out" about the hotel's three restaurants. The hotel has the Magnolia Grill restaurant; Andiamo, a fine dining Tuscan Italian cuisine restaurant, and Finish Line, a sports bar which recently underwent a $500,000 renovation, Berman says. "Often time people to not look at airport hotels for dining but we happen to have a couple of incredible restaurants," he says.

Previously there had been an executive committee of between eight to 12 people, he says. The Hilton Atlanta Airport is "beta" testing the model in the US, along with another hotel on the west coast, Berman says.

Hilton Hotels Corp., based in Beverly Hills, CA, acquired in 2005 Hilton International, which uses the four director, or 4D, model. Hilton Hotels Corp. is trying to have consistent management approaches, he says. Paula Mason is the director of human resources and the hotel is close to choosing a director of finance, Berman tells GlobeSt.com.

The Hilton Atlanta Airport was chosen for the pilot program, in part, because they are owned and managed by Hilton as opposed to being just managed by Hilton. Additionally, the hotel was volunteered to be a part of the program by the area vice president, Berman says.

"One of the biggest things we need to work with is changing mindsets within the hotels," he says. "A lot of directors' positions become management positions. We are really taking away a lot of layers."