University of North Texas Hospitality Students Reflect on their Las Vegas Study Tour Underwritten by Sands Cares

In March, 13 students from the College of Merchandising, Hospitality and Tourism at the University of North Texas visited Las Vegas for week-long study tour to learn about the hospitality industry. As with UNT’s previous trip in 2024, the visit was underwritten by Sands Cares as part of Sands’ focus on workforce development in the hospitality industry and cultivating its future leaders.

“Once again, Sands made possible a learning experience for our students in one of the world’s top hospitality centers,” Harold Lee, Ph.D., clinical associate professor at UNT’s College of Merchandising, Hospitality and Tourism and vice president, West Federation Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education, said. “The in-depth look they received from this trip, coupled with the interactions with leaders who generously gave their time, expertise and advice, made for incredible learning to help them plan their careers.”

In addition to underwriting the week, Sands hosted students at its headquarters on Mar. 10 for a career roundtable with company leaders, who shared insights about their responsibilities and experience to showcase the variety of non-operational career tracks in the industry.

Speakers included Ron Reese, senior vice president of corporate communications and global affairs; Ray Neal, executive director of corporate development, architecture and planning; Georgina Moreno, executive director of procurement; Melissa Grande, director of corporate sustainability; Mike Echols, vice president of global cyber security; Lauralee Antiporta, human resources specialist, and Danielle Buckner, human resources manager.

“My biggest takeaway from hearing from the Sands leaders was just how involved everything is,” Matthew Watry, a UNT senior, said. “We started off with the corporate development team and heard about how some of the projects start getting planned 10 years out and how much goes into that planning and development process, which was really interesting. We also learned how involved operations can be, such as with procurement and having to solve problems on the spot. I heard about creative solutions.”

Kara Williams, a UNT senior, also appreciated the wide variety of areas that were discussed during the Sands visit. “Seeing so many sides of what hospitality could be was really cool. What stuck out to me the most was the discussion about cybersecurity because it was never something I had considered being a part of hospitality, especially as the company is headquartered in Las Vegas and working for properties in Macao and Singapore. It really showed me how broad hospitality can be.”

The study tour also included visits to and tours of integrated resorts and hospitality venues, such as The Venetian Resort Las Vegas, Caesars Palace, Bellagio, Park MGM and The Wynn Las Vegas, where students received additional on-site learning opportunities.

“This week definitely changed my perspective of hospitality,” Williams said. “There are just so many avenues and aspects that you can go into it. It’s about putting yourself out there and getting to know as many people as you can. Be a sponge, there’s so much you can learn from someone else. It opened a lot of opportunities with connections, including getting practice with networking. At school, you get practice with your professors or at career fairs, but this gave us an opportunity to talk to people who knew we were just starting out.”

The UNT group also visited the University of Nevada, Las Vegas William F. Harrah College of Hospitality as well as its Konami Gaming Lab to experience its state-of-the-art casino simulation.

“I was eager to take this trip because I wanted to open up my perspective about what I want to do in my career,” Emily Gonzalez, a UNT junior, said. “After this experience, I realized there’s so much more than managing hotels.”

“The study tour gave us connections and opportunities for networking,” Chinelo Ileje, a UNT junior, said. “It showed us many job opportunities in the hospitality field. There are so many stepping stones.”

Supporting the UNT Las Vegas Study Tour is one of Sands’ many workforce development initiatives to advance hospitality education and build a strong talent pool for the industry.

To learn more about Sands’ workforce development efforts in the hospitality industry, read the company’s latest ESG report: https://www.sands.com/resources/reports/