MIAMI & BOULDER, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In response to the rapid growth in hotel development in Latin America and the Caribbean, Benjamin West, the hotel industry’s largest global purchasing firm for furniture, fixtures and equipment (FF&E) and operating supplies and equipment (OS&E), today announced that the company will open a new office in Miami. The new operation will be led by Liliane Stacishin-Moura, who has joined the company as Director-Latin America & Caribbean.
The new office brings to six the number of locations the company has opened to serve its clients worldwide. In 2011, Benjamin West worked on projects in 23 countries on four continents.
“Latin America has reached the tipping point of hotel development, with international and regional brands, as well as independents, ramping up to serve these rapidly growing economies,” said Alan Benjamin, president of Benjamin West. “According to Lodging Econometrics, three of the top 20 development markets—Brazil, Mexico and Argentina--are in that region. All but one country has shown quarter-over- quarter improvements in the development pipeline since the bottom of the cycle in late 2009. Renovations, which were delayed because of the economy, have been accelerating since the recovery began in the region in 2010. Chile and Columbia have great potential and the Caribbean’s primary economic driver is tourism which requires on-going investment to introduce new product and upgrading existing hotels. Brazil, the Latin American leader in economic growth, is the world’s fifth largest country in terms of both population and geographical area with a burgeoning demand for quality hotels, fueled by the hosting of the World Cup in 2014 and the Summer Olympics in 2016. Our clients are aggressively expanding into the region and we will be there to serve them.
“Miami is the current business center for much of Latin America development and where many of the major brands maintain substantial development offices,” he said. “As our activity increases we will open one or more regional offices in Latin America so that we can provide the services our clients expect.”
Stacishin-Moura, a Brazilian native and educated in the U.S., has an extensive background in design and real estate development, as well as environmental science. Prior to joining Benjamin West, she was founder and partner in Find Development Resources International headquartered in Los Cabos, Mexico. She led the company’s international business development, brokering and financing for the company’s hospitality and retail segments.
Previously she was director of international business development for the E Group, a landscape architecture and environmental design firm, where she spearheaded the company’s international expansion into Latin America, China and Southeast Asia.
She began her career as an environmental research chemist and published research on phytoremediation. Fluent in Portuguese, Spanish and English, she holds a Master’s Degree in International Management and an MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management and a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Utah State University.
“Latin American hotel development is governed by multiple country-specific regulations and requirements, which makes the specification, purchasing and installation of FF&E and OS&E different in virtually every country in the region,” she said. “Knowing how to source product and navigate tariffs and regulations creates opportunities for Benjamin West to expedite the hotel development process. We have strong relationships with the international, regional and local hotel brands, ownership groups and management companies and unparalleled buying power. Through our RPM™ proprietary cloud-based software program, we provide real time accounting/financial controls to monitor a project 24/7.”
Stacishin-Moura added that sustainability is an important and growing issue in Latin America. “Many Latin American countries that rely heavily on their natural beauty and resources for their economic well-being are becoming more tuned-in to the environment,” she noted. “The depletion of rain forests and other issues have made sustainability a high priority, which is reflected in many owners’ FF&E design and purchasing decisions. As a founding member of the Hospitality Sustainability Purchasing Consortium, we are on the leading-edge of sustainable design and purchasing. Benjamin West has an extensive history in sustainability within the hotel industry, which combined with our local knowledge and familiarity with brand standards, give us and our clients a competitive edge to get projects approved and in the ground faster.”
About Benjamin West
In addition to the new offices opening in Miami, Boulder, Colo.-headquartered Benjamin West also has offices in Chicago, Dallas, Hong Kong and London. The firm’s staff of more than 70 professionals ranks Benjamin West as the world’s largest hotel FF&E and OS&E purchasing firm. The firm provides a full range of purchasing services, including budget development, specification review, technical analysis, bidding, expediting, and project accounting for hotels in the mid-market, upscale and luxury segments. Additional information about the company may be found at its Web site: www.benjaminwest.com.