Las Vegas Ripe for Tech-Driven Reinvention in Wake of Pandemic: MGM Exec
Photo Credit: MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, NV. Flickr.com / Håkan Dahlström
Skift Take
Las Vegas is tried and true. Or is it? Just like with everything else, the pandemic will upend what one of the U.S.'s leading destinations has to offer — and digitization and hybrid models will be at the core of the reinvention.
There's an adage emerging in the business world in 2020 that the Covid-19 pandemic didn't create new trends — but rather accelerated ones that were already in place.
That's certainly true at MGM Resorts International, Atif Rafiq, its president of commercial & growth, said at Skift Global Forum on Wednesday. He said the shift to a digital-first company has been a huge focus of his — naturally, he's an alum of Silicon Valley and Amazon, as well as McDonald's and Volvo — and the changes brought by the pandemic are here to stay.
"Moving from an integrated casino resort to a company that’s really digital first and the experiences are easy to use and business model is compelling for the customer — we’re laser focused on that," Rafiq told Skift's CEO Rafat Ali.
