Chris Dunne Joins Atrium Hospitality as Chief Financial Officer
Atrium Hospitality this week announced the appointment of Chris Dunne to chief financial officer (CFO). With more than 20 years of hospitality operations finance experience, Dunne joins Atrium to serve as the company’s senior financial executive to lead accounting and finance disciplines in the newly created CFO role on Atrium’s executive team. His primary responsibilities will include oversight of the corporate and hotel accounting, treasury, tax, payroll, IT and procurement platforms for Atrium’s portfolio of assets under management comprised of 84 hotels and 20,897 guest rooms/suites in 28 states. Since 2014, Atrium Hospitality has been one of the fastest-growing hotel management companies in the United States. Atrium is ranked as the seventh-largest management company (ranked by gross annual revenue end of 2018) in the Hotel Business® Green Book 2020.
As CFO, Dunne will report to Atrium Hospitality President Daniel Abernethy, who conveys his vision for the new CFO role as a key component to Atrium’s future success. “As an executive committee team member, Chris will focus on developing and executing strategies that continue to advance Atrium’s corporate and property accounting and finance platforms. In addition, he will lead the development and integration of analytical solutions that concentrate on the evaluation and improvement of Atrium’s financial performance. In this role, Chris will work with the company’s key stakeholders to define metrics and execute strategies to improve Atrium’s operational and financial performance.
“After an extensive talent search, I am pleased to welcome Chris to the newly established CFO role at Atrium Hospitality and as a strategic addition to our executive team,” Abernethy said. “Chris brings a wealth of hands-on experience in hospitality operations finance to Atrium’s growing management portfolio.”
Chris worked for InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) for more than 18 years with his most recent role being the vice president operations finance, Americas for IHG in Atlanta, Georgia. In this role, he directed the financial support and business partnering for IHG’s largest operating region, spanning the United States, Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean. He had direct responsibility for the short-term and long-term operating and financial analysis for hotels and resorts under IHG’s nine brands. His responsibilities included the oversight of the Americas hotel directors of finance and ensuring that effective compliance is maintained with current accounting policies, staff training and development, corporate procedures, and internal controls.
Prior to joining IHG in 2000, Chris started his career with Bristol Hotels & Resorts working in a variety of positions. He studied at Georgia Institute of Technology before earning an Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) from Georgia State University.
“Atrium represents an exciting opportunity to shape the future of a fast-growing hospitality industry leader. I look forward to collaborating with the executive team to contribute to strategies to build on Atrium’s success,” Dunne said.
Guided Growth Mode
As Atrium Hospitality continues to evolve at a fast pace, Abernethy recognizes the company’s commitment to the core values of perseverance, respect, service and teamwork and the dedicated efforts of its nearly 10,000 associates as key components of Atrium’s success. He also emphasizes the role of Atrium’s corporate social responsibility pillars of wellness, education, diversity and sustainability in the company’s achievements toward developing the hospitality industry’s top talent. Atrium offers a range of incentives from wellness program participation that includes associate and spouse insurance premium discounts, online career development program, tuition reimbursement, and employee discounts on hotel stays, among others.