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Kirby Payne

Hotel Booking Chairman - American Hotels and Lodging Association

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Cheap Hotel Executive Profile Kirby D. Payne, CHA, president of American Hospitality Management Company based in Minneapolis, Minn., is the 2002 chairman of the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA).

His company operates limited- and full-service hotels for third parties and its own affiliates; undertakes consulting assignments, including litigation support for selected clients; and provides asset management, oversight management, and receivership services for institutional hotel owners.

Prior to starting his own company, Payne was vice president of the hospitality division for ManaDyne, also based in Minneapolis. In that capacity, he was responsible for operating over 30 hotels in 15 states.

Twice he has worked for Pannell Kerr Forster. In 1979, he was hired as a senior consultant in Houston and later was appointed director of operations for the Mexico City-based Groupo Quetzalli. In 1982, Payne returned to the United States as vice president of operations support and development with Atlanta, Ga.-based Southern Host Hotels. In 1985, Payne returned to Pannell Kerr Forster to establish a Minneapolis consulting practice serving regional and national clients, including Radisson Hotels Worldwide, Park Suites, and the reopening of the original Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas where he was general manager on a consulting basis.

Payne spent six years with Hilton Inns, Inc., as regional supervisor in the southeast overseeing franchise hotels prior to being appointed resident manager of the 305-room St. Petersburg (Fla.) Hilton. He also was general manager of The Buccaneer, a luxury resort in St. Croix, Virgin Islands, as well as the Hilton Inn Bossier City near Shreveport, La.

He began his professional career as a management trainee in Curacao, Netherlands Antilles with the Intercontinental Hotels Corporation, leaving to serve as an entry-level consultant with Laventhol & Horwath in Atlanta.

Payne is active with the Minnesota Hotel & Lodging Association (MH&LA) where he served as president in 1996. He is a trustee for AH&LAs Educational Institute and serves on its Certification Commission. Payne also sits on several AH&LA committees.

Payne was named AH&LA 1998 Economy Lodging Operator of the Year.

He served a year in Vietnam as a captain in the U.S. Army. Prior to that he was assigned to the armored cavalry and, subsequently, served as a prosecutor for Special Courts Marshals. His military awards include the Air Medal and the Vietnamese Medal of Honor (2nd Class).

Payne received a bachelors degree in business administration with a major in hotel and restaurant administration and a minor in international finance and military affairs from Florida State University in Tallahassee.

A native of Washington State, Payne grew up in South America and the Caribbean with where his father was a hotel general manager. He resides in the Twin Cities suburb of Minnetonka with his wife and business partner, Vicki Richman.

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