This second piece turned out to be a game changer for Foxwoods. This involved meeting with executives and business unit directors to learn their core KPIs, and replacing ad hoc data requests with self-service dashboards to give stakeholders pertinent data on demand, rather than waiting weeks for it. “When we pull a lever in one area like entertainment, marketing or revenue management, it has ramifications elsewhere.”įoxwoods engaged SAS Consulting to develop a more holistic approach to data and analytics. “One challenge is we have so much under one roof, which creates a lot of interdependencies,” Garcia says.

Data requests from the business tended to focus on what was happening at a specific entity – be it revenue for a restaurant or reservations for a hotel – without factoring in why it was happening. One immediate hurdle to overcome was looking beyond operational silos. Foxwoods turned to SAS to facilitate a new era of analytics innovation, investing in SAS Viya, a powerful predictive analytics, artificial intelligence and data management platform that runs on a modern, scalable architecture. Leaders would want to know: Which operations should reopen first? How much staff would be needed? How could it maximize profits while prioritizing staff and guest safety?Īnswering these questions – and many more – required a forward look into the business. After all, the business would need it when Foxwoods reopened in a few months. With the slot machines silenced and spa chairs empty, the analytics team at Foxwoods used the downtime to devise a more proactive analytics strategy.

“By the time we provided the data one or two weeks later, the information was less relevant, which resulted in missed opportunities.” “We got a ton of data requests, and it became a queuing system,” says David Garcia, Executive Director of Analytics and Optimization at Foxwoods. Since 2003, the Connecticut resort has successfully used SAS to report on operational data. For Foxwoods, this came in the form of a new analytics strategy. When the COVID-19 pandemic caused North America’s largest hotel casino to shut its doors in March 2020, the once bustling 9 million square-foot destination resort – with seven casinos, four hotels, 35 restaurants and 80 shops – fell quiet for the first time in its history.Įvery challenge presents hidden opportunities. Foxwoods Resort Casino relies on SAS ® Viya ® to determine optimal staffing, enhance the guest experience and maximize profitsįor more than 30 years, Foxwoods Resort Casino weathered blizzards, hurricanes and national crises to remain open every second of every day.

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