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FEATURE
“ Vegas is an international destination , but 50 % of the people still drive here , so when you think about highways and byways and roads , President Biden ’ s infrastructure bill a few years back gave a lot of money to the transportation department ,” notes Hornbuckle .
Spending that money wisely is no mean feat . “ What we have found in the couple of years we ’ ve been in this position is needing to push the whole government to work together ,” he adds . “ Transportation does certain things , commerce does other things , Homeland Security handles the airports and getting all of these bodies to pull in one direction on behalf of tourism is a lot .”
VIEW FROM THE BALCONY AT SPAGO
Travel and tourism , after all , makes up around 10 % of the US economy . As chair of the TTAB it ’ s down to Hornbuckle to ensure the industry has a strong voice , and a strong message to support it . His core focus remains MGM Resorts , but in this additional position , he ’ s speaking for a much wider sector .
It all goes to further hammer home just how far he has progressed from his early days at the Jockey Club . That journey
Blue suede views : Bill holds court at the Allegiant Stadium
is part of what motivates him to keep going , rather than stopping to enjoy the view .
“ Having done it for so long , having worked in so many transformational projects , I guess I have a different perspective now as CEO in that there ’ s nothing above you ,” he says . “ You ultimately own everything . There ’ s no blaming something on another person , you own everything in some way , shape or form .”
“ I have a different perspective now as CEO in that there ’ s nothing above you . You ultimately own everything ”
Conscious of his own humble beginnings , he wants to leave a legacy at the business .
“ We have people in our organisation that are pushing 30 years , who have grown up with us through our management associate programmes . The woman who runs the Bellagio , I hired her 33 years ago as a management associate .
“ Seeing some of these stories manifest is really important to me .”
A DOGFIGHT EVERY DAY
And there ’ s plenty more to do , as he grows operations across multiple markets and channels .
Leading a business of MGM Resorts ’ scale with all the challenges it throws up , “ is a fun job ” to Hornbuckle .
“ It just is ,” he smiles . “ We get to do a lot of fun things . We get to travel the world , see a lot of things and participate in a lot of projects .
“ We ’ re in a transformational period too . The whole digital piece of our industry is growing , particularly here domestically , and it keeps us all motivated .
“ It ’ s a dogfight every day , but it ’ s a fun and interesting dogfight . We ’ ve got a few more years left in us anyway .”
60 • ISSUE 135 • ICE LONDON 2024