Back

Looking Into the Crystal Ball

Michael Dominguez is the chief sales officer for MGM Resorts International. Michael served as chair of Meeting Professionals International (MPI) when that organization held its World Education Congress (WEC) in Minneapolis in 2014. And perhaps most near and dear to me is the fact that he's a fellow native Texan.

The 2013 MPI WEC was at one of his company's Las Vegas properties, Mandalay Bay. In preparing to host this prestigious group of meeting planners the year following Las Vegas, he counseled us that "we can't out Vegas, Vegas," and to simply be who we are as a destination. So, based on the positive feedback we got from conference attendees and the new business we've generated from having hosted the event, that strategy worked.

MGM operates some of the largest hotel properties in the world and heralded strong 2015 performance with a year-over-year increase in domestic rooms revenue of 10 percent and an increase in RevPAR of 12 percent. I suppose this is a great time to be Michael.

I have had the opportunity to hear Michael speak at various industry events on the future of the travel/hospitality industry and he holds a bullish view. He predicts the continuation of the seller's market we've experienced since coming out of our recession, in spite of the increasing lodging supply. He shared those views in his recent remarks to the Pharma Forum 2016 event, and this article from MeetingsNet summarizes his presentation. Give it a read, and let us know what you think about the future of our local industry.

The 2013 MPI WEC was at one of his company's Las Vegas properties, Mandalay Bay. In preparing to host this prestigious group of meeting planners the year following Las Vegas, he counseled us that "we can't out Vegas, Vegas," and to simply be who we are as a destination. So, based on the positive feedback we got from conference attendees and the new business we've generated from having hosted the event, that strategy worked.

MGM operates some of the largest hotel properties in the world and heralded strong 2015 performance with a year-over-year increase in domestic rooms revenue of 10 percent and an increase in RevPAR of 12 percent. I suppose this is a great time to be Michael.

I have had the opportunity to hear Michael speak at various industry events on the future of the travel/hospitality industry and he holds a bullish view. He predicts the continuation of the seller's market we've experienced since coming out of our recession, in spite of the increasing lodging supply. He shared those views in his recent remarks to the Pharma Forum 2016 event, and this article from MeetingsNet summarizes his presentation. Give it a read, and let us know what you think about the future of our local industry.