Resorts World Las Vegas, which owns and operates a namesake hotel and casino at the northern end of the Las Vegas Strip, named Alex Dixon CEO in December. In January, the industry veteran who previously worked for Sin City competitors like MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment, officially stepped into the role.
In addition to adding Dixon, Resorts World Las Vegas created a board of directors in December and named Carlos Castro as chief operating officer and CFO last month.
The leadership restructuring follows a tough third quarter for the Strip resort, in which it faced its worst financial quarter in two years and took heat from Nevada gaming regulators alleging the operator allowed illicit gambling activities, according to reports from the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
With its new leaders, Resorts World Las Vegas is on a mission to “bolster the property’s governance structure to help drive the go-forward business strategy,” according to a company statement.
As the resort looks to the future, Hotel Dive sat down with Dixon, who shared how he plans to drive the next chapter for Resorts World Las Vegas through unique guest experiences and untapped development opportunities.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
HOTEL DIVE: Resorts World Las Vegas has faced recent legal and financial challenges. How do you plan to combat ongoing hurdles in your new role?
ALEX DIXON: We’re excited to be moving forward in the next phase of our resort’s evolution. We've established a new board of directors that is local here in the state of Nevada, and Las Vegas specifically. We're grateful for not only the new leadership, but also new energy, to take what is an untapped asset of 40 acres of undeveloped land here on Las Vegas Boulevard, in addition to the beautiful $4.5 billion resort that we developed, to the next level.
We're leveraging all the assets that we have here on property on Las Vegas Boulevard, inclusive of the human capital with our team members, to make sure that we're driving forward.
The addition of a chairman like Jim Murren (who previously served as CEO and chairman of the board of directors at MGM Resorts and currently holds leadership positions with Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection and Cirque du Soleil) as well as the former chairman of the gaming control board, A.G. Burnett, and others, is going to allow us to have a core focus on continuing to enhance our culture of compliance moving forward. We’re excited about turning the next page and writing new narratives.
You mentioned there's some undeveloped land at the resort. How will that be utilized?
We're one of the few owner-operators still left on the Las Vegas Strip. We have 3,500-plus rooms today, but we're entitled for up to 10,000, so that gives a sense of the potential development opportunity that could take place on this land — it is simply unrivaled here within Las Vegas. But more broadly, we will work to provide more entertainment and more interactive experiences. We are constantly working each and every day to figure out how we can activate our underutilized spaces.
How does the resort plan to deliver more “unparalleled guest experiences” in 2025?
We're going to be showcasing this asset by reinvigorating our core gaming business. One of the first actions that I took as CEO was to post a role for chief gaming officer, to focus on the comprehensive gaming experience of our guests.
We have this beautiful resort, and we need to make sure that we're telling our story. So much of this process is doing just what we're doing today — making sure that people know, understand and get exposed to our brand.
We also have Stubborn Seed opening up, which is a phenomenal new [fine dining concept], as well as other restaurants coming down the pike. Janet Jackson and Carrie Underwood are coming back [for residencies]. Entertainment will be the main driver in 2025.
There's so much to be experienced here. We just have to continually make sure that we're relevant and reaching our consumers where they are.
What is the state of tourism in Las Vegas, and how is that driving Resorts World’s strategy?
On our growth trajectory within sports, entertainment and media, [Las Vegas] is quickly becoming the place where America does business. And this is the best place for a trailing spouse or friend to come along and add on an additional day to a stay.
Travelers book at Resorts World for business, but stay to play. This is a great place because there's so much to do inside the resort, and it's so easy to get in and out of.
From a transportation perspective, the neighborhood is really evolving. We're within a stone’s throw of our neighbors on this end of the Strip, including the beautiful Encore and Fontainebleau. On this north end, we're going to make sure that we begin to work together on how to drive activity, foot traffic and an overall reemergence of this area to leverage the leisure traveler.
