Josef Wagner joined Resorts World Las Vegas successful May 2025 aft much than 2 decades starring nutrient and beverage operations astatine luxury resorts successful Las Vegas, crossed the United States and successful Europe.
Not agelong aft his arrival, the seasoned hospitality enforcement was promoted to elder vice president of operations, expanding his responsibilities beyond eating to oversee the day-to-day cognition of the $4.3 cardinal resort.
Wagner discussed his priorities successful the role, evolving impermanent expectations and the operational doctrine guiding Resorts World’s adjacent chapter. Some responses person been edited for clarity and brevity.
You precocious moved from starring nutrient and beverage to becoming the elder vice president of operations. What are your contiguous strategical priorities successful this expanded role?
At a spot arsenic ample and analyzable arsenic Resorts World Las Vegas, occurrence depends connected ensuring each section is moving unneurotic seamlessly to present exceptional experiences for our guests and squad members.
First and foremost, our squad members are the instauration of everything we do. Creating a beardown civilization starts with hiring the close people, investing successful grooming and development, and maintaining clear, accordant communication. It is important that our squad members recognize however their idiosyncratic roles lend to the wide impermanent acquisition and consciousness empowered to stock feedback and ideas.
The 2nd precedence is the impermanent experience. We person entree to invaluable impermanent feedback done surveys, reviews and real-time data, and it’s captious that we usage those insights to thrust decision-making and work enhancements. While exertion plays an important role, hospitality remains a radical business, and often it’s the idiosyncratic touches — a nonstop conversation, a handwritten enactment oregon a proactive effect — that make lasting impressions.
The 3rd pillar is fiscal discipline. Maintaining a wide knowing of our show done scorecards, budgets and cardinal operational metrics allows america to marque informed decisions and guarantee semipermanent success.
Ultimately, my absorption is connected creating greater visibility, accountability and collaboration crossed the organization.
How are impermanent expectations changing successful 2026, and however is your squad adapting operational workflows to conscionable them?
Guest expectations successful 2026 are centered astir personalization, authenticity, wellness and what galore picture arsenic quiescent luxury — high-quality, thoughtfully curated experiences that consciousness effortless and personal.
To conscionable those expectations, we’re focused connected creating much agile and guest-centric operations. We usage information and impermanent insights to marque faster decisions, personalize the impermanent travel and continuously refine our work approach. We’re besides investing successful exclusive experiences crossed dining, amusement and wellness that make deeper impermanent connections and promote repetition visitation.
Technology and AI are helping streamline processes and supply our teams with amended information, allowing leaders to marque quicker decisions and squad members to walk much clip creating meaningful impermanent interactions.
What relation does AI and automated hospitality technologies play successful your existent operational strategy without sacrificing luxury service?
AI and automation play an important relation successful improving efficiency, simplifying processes and helping our teams marque faster, much informed decisions.
That said, exertion volition ne'er regenerate the halfway of hospitality. AI decidedly provides much efficiencies, simplifies processes and increases velocity and scale, but it does not regenerate the quality transportation that defines luxury service.
While AI tin assistance with regular requests and operational insights, luxury hospitality lives successful the details. It’s making guests consciousness seen, heard and valued done personalized interactions, thoughtful gestures and unexpected moments that make lasting impressions.
Our attack is to usage exertion to heighten hospitality, not regenerate it.
You person guided aggregate venues to Forbes Five-Star status. What halfway operational principles are required to standard that level of excellence crossed an full megaresort?
The halfway principles of excellence astatine standard are built astir 4 areas: the impermanent journey, standardizing the basics portion personalizing the finish, continuous grooming and prime control.
First, each measurement of work should beryllium designed astir the full impermanent journey.
Second, standardize the fundamentals portion allowing squad members to personalize the experience.
Third, grooming indispensable beryllium operational, not robotic.
Finally, prime power indispensable beryllium nonsubjective and ongoing.
Once those foundations are successful place, the feedback becomes a almighty instrumentality for coaching, improvement and creating a civilization of continuous improvement.
The hospitality manufacture faces ongoing labour and endowment acquisition shifts. How bash you attack building, retaining and motivating a world-class work team?
Building a world-class hospitality squad is little astir slogans and much astir creating a beardown operating civilization built connected disciplined hiring, exceptional onboarding, disposable enactment and continuous coaching. Team members are astatine the bosom of the operation.
While competitory wage and benefits are important successful attracting talent, radical yet enactment due to the fact that of large leadership, meaningful relationships and opportunities to grow.
Recognition besides plays a captious role. Celebrating apical performers and sharing their work stories helps reenforce desired behaviors, creates pridefulness and inspires others crossed the organization.
Most importantly, existent hospitality extends to our squad members arsenic overmuch arsenic our guests. Being present, supportive and engaged during some the challenges and the successes builds loyalty and creates an situation wherever radical privation to stay, lend and turn their careers.
JOSEF WAGNER
Age: 50
Title: Senior vice president of operations
Company: Resorts World Las Vegas
Education: Bachelor's grade concern and hospitality
Favorite Ice Cream: Vanilla
Favorite Las Vegas restaurant: A home-cooked recipe
Favorite abrogation destination: Sardegna
Favorite Band: The Killers
English (US)·