EXECUTIVE SPOTLIGHT
Travis Lunn,
President & CEO Beau Rivage Resort & Casino and Gold Strike Casino Resort
In the ever-changing landscape of our everyday life and with new safety precautions implemented daily, the gaming industry has been a leader when it comes to ensuring best practices for their customers and employees. Two properties that have excelled with implementing these safety measures are Beau Rivage Resort & Casino and Gold Strike Casino Resort located in Mississippi. Gaming and Destinations publisher, G. Douglas Dreisbach, caught up with the president and CEO of both properties, Travis Lunn, to talk about what they are doing to lead the way through the current COVID-19 pandemic, and what lies ahead for the properties as well as gaming enthusiasts around the world. G. Douglas Dreisbach: Our world has changed in so many ways with the COVID-19 pandemic. When it all started and casinos started to close, what were some of your and your team’s initial thoughts? And, now looking back, do you feel those thoughts were accurate and that the right steps were taken? Travis Lunn: Our initial thoughts were unusual, especially in the casino environment. Both of our properties in Mississippi had experienced closing their doors previously. Gold Strike had to close due to a flood, and Beau Rivage with Katrina. So, some of our initial steps were realizing that we needed to close and understanding that we had experience in doing that. What would be economically different in this situation is that there were mandates, both from our state government as well as from the Mississippi Gaming Commission, but without an understanding of when we could reopen and what that would look like. We did not try to make any presumptions about what the business would look like when we would re-open our doors because the situation was very fluid. We got the re-opening protocols the Friday before we opened so 18
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there was a lot of quick movement, obviously, to adhere to those protocols. Initially, our thoughts were about making sure whatever we were going to do was going to be based around safety and wellbeing of our guests and team members. GDD: Did your team have any input for the state to consider for those guidelines, or were those coming from other places? TL: The guidelines we follow are from the Mississippi Gaming Commission and we use those as the base minimum of what we need to be open for business. In addition to those standard protocols, we also introduced our own seven-point safety plan. So, a lot of things you will see at Beau Rivage and Gold Strike aren’t necessarily requirements, but are things we wanted to introduce to make sure both our team members and guests know that we were taking their safety seriously. We did not do this on our own. We had a lot of consultation from experts in this area and hired third-party public health experts that assisted us in identifying those standards and introducing those measures. But there are some things unique to MGM Resorts, such as a handwashing station that is quite literally in the middle of our casino floor and we have polycarbonate separators at our table games, that is not a requirement, but another opportunity where we can create a safe environment, so we are taking that extra step. GDD: What kind of safety measures are in place for hotel guests regarding cleaning the rooms? TL: There is a multi-layered approach to the safety protocols in terms of the guest rooms. First and foremost, our team members and guest room
