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Andres Reyes, director of revenue management at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut, will receive the 2022 Single/Multi-Unit Revenue Optimization Professional of the Year Award during HSMAI ROC Americas, taking place June 29. “This is a once in a career type of recognition,” he said. “It is an absolute honor. I am beyond thankful for the support and encouragement from my team at Foxwoods Resort. I am also appreciative, as I was definitely set up for success from the experience and exposure during my time at MGM Resorts and Station Casinos.”
Reyes has been in the hospitality and gaming space for 10 years, involved with rebrands, revivals, grand openings, and more. Born in the Dominican Republic and raised in Las Vegas, he attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, majoring in business administration with a concentration in finance. Upon graduation, Reyes got started at MGM Resorts International, learning about the complexities of the business, data warehousing and business intelligence systems. Taking this experience, he went on to use his combined business and analytical skillset to numerous projects and initiatives upon moving to Station Casinos and now Foxwoods.
HSMAI: How did you get your start in the industry?
Andres Reyes: Completely by chance. Originally, I was planning on becoming a chartered financial analyst. Upon graduating, my older brother recommended that I apply for a revenue analyst position that was posted. At the time, I was already working at MGM Resorts International in their call center while going to UNLV, which helped me get my foot in the door. I decided to give it a shot and interviewed for it.
How did you get involved with HSMAI?
I have attended HSMAI events as a revenue manager at MGM Resorts and as a director of revenue management at Station Casinos and now Foxwoods Resort. I have been involved with the organization for about seven years now.
During your time in the industry, how have you seen the revenue optimization space evolve?
Customer data has become more accessible and usable than ever before. Key metrics have evolved to be more profit focused versus topline revenue focused. In the casino space, robust scoring and dynamic yielding mechanisms have increasingly replaced static direct mail.
How would you describe your approach to revenue management strategy?
I would consider myself a “full stack” revenue manager. Similar to a full stack engineer or developer, having knowledge of the technologies, technical skills, and business acumen needed to fully integrate and tailor individual components of systems and data definitely give me an advantage. Many revenue managers rely on prebuilt systems and operations and tend to get stuck with legacy and outdated practices.
What would you say has been the best moment of your career?
Other than receiving this award, it’s being part of what we have been able to accomplish at Foxwoods Resort. I was one of many who played a pivotal role in driving transformational changes that have resulted in some of the highest profitability Foxwoods has seen in many years.
The enterprise has full visibility through models and dashboards built on the property’s business intelligence programs. Through all these joint initiatives and projects, the property can predict confidently how the casino and hotel will perform on any given day, also predicting other departments labor requirements based on these projections.