Las Vegas Casinos Go All-In on Tech and Safety Measures to Jumpstart the Recovery
As a standard-bearer for hospitality, Las Vegas is drawing the industry's attention as it establishes protocols to resume business in an altered marketplace.
If any place is going to figure out the "new next," odds are, it'll be Las Vegas.
"We have to all embrace a new normal but can still enjoy everything Las Vegas has to offer with an enhanced level of safety and precaution," said Rajeev Rai, Wynn Las Vegas' chief information officer. "To deliver entertainment while keeping guests and employees safe, the Wynn team had to 'think from soup to nuts' what a reimagined guest experience would look like, spanning from gaming tables to the resort's buffet. He said the reaction from guests has been incredible as the resort has put new protocols in place in a signature "Wynn luxurious way."
Setting the Bar for Reopening Standards
Las Vegas casinos have taken the lead in implementing rigorous cleanliness standards.
One example of such leadership comes from the Venetian Resort. In its reopening statement, it states guests can safely experience a full-service casino, more than a dozen restaurants, a fully renovated pool deck, and several retail outlets, bringing the resort almost entirely back to typical operations - with the addition of increased health and safety standards. Face masks are available free of charge at several locations across the property. Other Las Vegas properties, including the Wynn, Bellagio, and Caesars Palace also are following new health protocols and social distancing measures to create safer environments for guests and staff.
Enhancing Guest and Staff Safety
As guests head back to Las Vegas, they may notice a few changes as they walk the Strip. At many resort entrances, thermal cameras are waiting to greet casino-goers for temperature checks before they enter. At check-in, guests may see dividers set up at the front desk or closed workstations to ensure social distancing between workers; floor markers also are in place to indicate proper spacing between guests as they wait. Some guests may be able to skip the front desk entirely, thanks to increasingly common mobile check-in options, and some properties are using QR codes that enable guests to scan and check-in quicker than ever.
The changes continue on the casino floor, where resorts are using partitions, table limits, and new chair and gaming machine arrangements - again to maintain safe distancing. At dining venues, guests will encounter similar experiences: often greeted by QR codes, this time to download digital menus to peruse from their phones and while seated at tables. After enjoying their meal, diners may also see changes as they pay their bills. More restaurants are embracing pay-at-table technology that allow a guest to quickly pay, sign, and add tip, eliminating the need for a server to run a check to and from the POS and sanitize all items with each trip.
Las Vegas has long lit up our hearts and spirits just as bright as its own glittering lights. In the "new next," that experience will just have more safeguards.
Christine Allen
PR Director
Oracle Hospitality
