Burt Cabañas

Burt Cabañas has been involved in hospitality since he was 14 years old working after school as a pool boy at The Shelborne Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida. He found that serving guests was in his blood. Now as Chairman of Benchmark Hospitality International, he oversees every property in Benchmark’s diverse portfolio. His route took him from pool boy through various other service positions until he became executive assistant to the managing director and responsible for the operating departments of the Doral Hotel and Country Club, a five-star resort in Miami, Florida. After six years at Doral, he joined Stouffer Hotels to open their first resort hotel and later became Regional Director of Operations responsible for the financial performance of six hotel and resort properties with over 2,000 guest rooms. During that time he led the opening team for several new hotel projects and directed the operational responsibilities of a multi-million dollar renovation of an old landmark hotel in Cleveland, Ohio.

In 1979 he was recruited to The Woodlands Resort and Executive Conference Center in The Woodlands (Houston), Texas, as Vice President and General Manager and later promoted to Senior Vice President involved in all of the hospitality related operations of The Woodlands Corporation, a subsidiary of Mitchell Energy & Development Corp. These properties included The Woodlands Resort and Conference Center with golf and club operations, the Exxon Conference Center, the Tournament Players Golf Course, and The San Luis Resort Hotel on Galveston Island. In this role he also supported The Woodlands’ master-planned community development. In 1986 after growing the company with three additional properties, he purchased the company. To this day it remains a privately held corporation.A graduate of Florida International University with a Bachelor's Degree in Hotel and Restaurant Management, Mr. Cabañas was conferred the title of Honorary Community Professor in 1976 by Dr. Gerald Lattin, the Dean of The School of Hotel, Food and Travel Services. The University presented him with both the Alumni TorchAward and the FIU President’s Medallion Award in 2005. He has served as Chairman of the Industry Advisory Board for the Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management and currently is Vice Chair of the F.I.U Foundation Board. Mr. Cabañas is a founding board member and a past president of the International Association of Conference Centers (IACC). While serving as president, he co-authored with Laventhol & Horwath "The Uniform System of Accounts for Conference Centers."In 1988 IACC presented Mr. Cabañas with The Mel Hosansky Distinguished Service Award in recognition of his outstanding service to the Association and to the conference center industry. In 2012 he was presented with the IACC Global Distinguished Service Award by Peter Stewart, President of IACC’s Global Board of Directors.