Sands’ New Chairman and CEO Outlines the Company’s Strategic Priorities for Corporate Team Members

Sands’ Chairman and CEO Patrick Dumont recently set the tone for his tenure at the helm of the company in a recent Town Hall for corporate Team Members. Discussion focused on the Sands’ strategic vision for guiding its business into the future.

The company’s approach for planning, decision-making and execution is organized around five guiding principles, and Dumont gave color to their meaning and implementation during the Town Hall.

Guiding Principle: We make strategic investments to ensure we deliver world-class service and the most desirable integrated resort offerings for high-value leisure and business customers.

“Since we built The Venetian Las Vegas, our goal has always been unmatched guest service. It was written all over the walls in back-of-house areas. It’s been a core value since Mr. Adelson and Dr. Adelson founded the company.

“World-class service is even more important today than it’s ever been because our product is built on the experiences we provide. As a result, taking care of our guests is the top priority. With the way information travels today, reputation can change very quickly. Being consistent in the way that we do things and having a mindset of sharing information and collaborative training to ensure that people understand what the objectives are and how to deliver service is crucial to maintaining our reputation.

“The most important thing we can do is to be consistent, provide great service and show that there’s an authenticity in the way we deliver that service. We want people to say, ‘I had a great time with my business meeting,’ ‘I had a great time with my family,’ ‘I saw a great show,’ ‘I had a great dinner,’ ‘the gaming service is unbelievable.’

“For example, the way we execute service on the casino floor is excellent. Part of the reason why we have so many high-value patrons coming to our resorts and driving the value of this company is because of the attention they receive, the services provided and the atmosphere created by our teams.

“We’re currently making an $8 billion investment in Singapore. We’re going to be pushing the envelope in terms of design level, speed and quality, and that will create more market share. We’re really looking to up our performance.

“In Macao, when we originally built Sands Cotai Central, it was very much designed for the mass market, and that market evolved over time. People wanted higher-end hospitality experiences, so a few years before the pandemic, we made the decision to invest $2.2 billion to transform that property into The Londoner Macao.

“We now have great assets there, and The Londoner Macao is an example of how investment in the right way can create that leadership.”

Guiding Principle: We are committed to embracing innovation across our company and ensuring design excellence to enhance the guest experience and create efficiencies in our operations.

“Mr. Adelson was an entrepreneur by heart, and that entrepreneurial spirit drove him to have visions of growth, visions of leading our industry and visions of doing things in a way that other people didn’t do. He used to say, challenge the status quo. I’m sure we all remember that.

“I think the key thing is let’s invest to innovate, let’s invest in things that our competitors don’t see or are afraid to do, so that we can challenge the status quo, so that we can push the envelope.

“Our intellectual property is in the design of our buildings and the offerings or aesthetic we provide. Tastes evolve over time, so we have to stay in front of that and lead the way. When you think about what we sell, we really sell experiences. So it’s very important that we make sure that what we present is consistent and to the highest level, so that we can continue to maintain our leadership. Design excellence has been an important transformational shift for our company over the years, after our assets went through their original phases.

“Over the last couple of years, we’ve been investing in creating those spaces of innovation and excellence, part by part, building by building. We’re going through each asset to see how our patrons use these buildings and how to deliver the best experiences possible, then creating designs that allow those experiences to be the best in the world. That is our focus.

“Prior to and during the pandemic, we started a benchmarking process in which we looked at every great hotel we could. We went to major cities around the world and observed the latest art, their renovations and developments. We looked at how they were servicing customers to benchmark the best service, the best design, the best culinary and the best nightlife, in the world.

“The Marina Bay Sands renovation that we’ve been undertaking and the buildout of The Londoner Macao were the first steps in using that benchmarking to evolve our assets.

“So, design excellence is part of our innovation process, but we also have a team focused on the integration of digital solutions into our daily operations. That type of innovation will lead our company, allow us to show leadership and expand the way our business will operate in the future. These investments also are going to be key.

“For us, it’s about investing capital, investing in people, creating design excellence, and creating different technologies that allow us to be at the forefront of the way our industry is done.

“Our new integrated resort in Singapore is the next evolution of what we see in hospitality and gaming globally. Once we’ve completed what we are building now, we expect there will be no rival to that property. With our design team, our development team and our service team, we have the ability to create the greatest hotel and gaming spaces that have ever been made, and we’re investing like we’re going to do it.

“We’re taking advantage of the fact that we are in one of the best markets that has ever existed for any luxury product. Singapore is rarefied air, and we think people will view this as the project that really hit the pinnacle. That’s our goal.”

Guiding Principle: We aim to be the most shareholder-friendly company in the hospitality and gaming industry.

“What this really comes down to is trust. I think the most important thing is that people support us and trust us – and that trust continues to develop. They become successful because as we grow what they bought becomes more valuable. Then, other people are willing to support us in our mission to grow and be the best company in the world and in our industry. Without that trust, without being very shareholder-friendly, we limit the opportunities we can create in the future.

“To achieve our goals in the most successful way, we have to have access to capital. That comes through our shareholders, but it also comes through our lenders and other stakeholders. Being shareholder-friendly means being transparent. It means working well with our shareholders, with our other stakeholders and with our lenders, to ensure that we have the ability to fund ourselves as we grow.”

Guiding Principle: We are steadfast in our resolve to be a dedicated employer, committed community partner and sustainability leader in our regions.

“Environmental, social and governance really speaks to the way we are a good corporate citizen in the markets in which we operate. ESG leadership means being part of the community and doing the right thing. Our governance is key. Our social work is key. The Sands ECO360 global sustainability program is key. So is the way that we do things with our Team Members. We are a company built of people in the local community – for them to work at a company that benefits their neighbors is very meaningful.

“Environmental stewardship also is very important to us as we are a physical consumer. We build a lot of stuff. We consume a lot of stuff every day. As a result, incremental change is meaningful – if we cut down on food waste, if we use less power, all of these things matter for the environment.

“Volunteerism is also an important trademark of this company. We contribute significant, dedicated resources to implement real volunteer programs with our Team Members who give their time and efforts to benefit their local communities. I think it’s especially meaningful because they contribute their time because they want to, by their own free will. Often, we aren’t giving out free lunches or other incentives; it’s just a pure volunteer effort to do work that helps their local communities.

“The level of Team Member participation we have is very meaningful because it shows our volunteer programs are effective and addressing the right causes and issues – and more important, that there’s meaning to our Team Members because they’re working so hard for their local communities.

“We employ a lot of people, and it’s very important for us to be a good corporate citizen. We’ve got a long history of doing this.”

Guiding Principle: We are a stable and proven operator and a collaborative partner with governments and regulatory bodies, continuously striving to ensure compliance and ethics in our business.

“For those of you who spent time with Sheldon Adelson, you know that compliance was incredibly important to him and that he believed in honesty and integrity. Those were his core values, and we carry those values forward today.

“His goal was to create a company that could sustain and outlive him and anyone from the founding group. He wanted to create a durable enterprise that actually was an innovator, had an entrepreneurial spirit, but also followed compliance a very long way. That was fundamental to him. We used to talk about it all the time – always do the right thing and you never have to worry about it. That was a key lesson from him. He said it in very plain terms, but he was very clear about what he meant.

“Our annual compliance training and the other ways we educate about compliance practices are really important to our culture and for the success of our company long-term. Being a company that focuses on compliance protects us.

“There’s a concept called tone from the top, which is leadership thinking about the importance of compliance, doing the right thing every day to protect our company and being an example for the right way to get our business done.

“That tone from the top comes from corporate. This office does things that create a great future for our company and supports the people out in the field to ensure they understand why compliance is important so that we protect our company.

“Being knowledgeable about the different parts of compliance that impact our business is important. It’s necessary to ensure that we do things properly and an important part of our core values.”