Michael Dominguez wants you to know that he is not leaving MGM Resorts International, where he has served as senior vice president and chief sales officer for seven years. When he adopts the CEO title at Associated Luxury Hotels International (ALHI) on July 8, he will continue to sell MGM, Loews Hotels—a brand where he served as vice president of global sales for exactly seven years before his role at MGM—and 248 other luxury meetings- and incentive-focused properties around the world that are ALHI members.
“It is all part of an extended family,” he told Smart Meetings. The way he explained it to his staff during a conference call from MPI’s World Education Conference in Toronto, where he was speaking about leadership, was that his “daily responsibility for corporate hotel sales is changing.”
Dominguez said the move was not connected to a recent MGM 2020 reorganization. It came up only because former ALHI CEO Josh Lesnick announced his resignation three months earlier. “If the ALHI portfolio did not include MGM, I don’t know if it would have been as easy of a decision,” he said.
One project he plans to continue to work on in his new role is consulting with MGM on its bid to win a gaming license in Japan.
The position also affords Dominguez the possibility to move closer to his parents. “We don’t have to be located in Boston; we can be strategic about where [ALHI] is located, based on where customers and industry organizations are located—as long it has good airlift,” he said.
Bill Dyer, chair of Associated Luxury Hotels, the parent company of ALHI, said, “Michael is highly respected and actively involved in leadership roles in our meetings and events industry. He is the ideal person for this position, with the right experience and industry network to lead our organization to new heights as we continue to focus on serving our distinguished members and valued customers.”
ALHI serves as the global sales extension of 250-member luxury hotels and resorts, cruise ships and DMCs.
Dominguez pledged to look at how to deliver value to members and customers with fresh eyes while working with the entire industry to address global issues, such as diversity and inclusion, human trafficking and the environment. “ALHI needs to have a seat at the table with U.S. Travel,” he said. “That brings 240 hotels closer to these issues so they can make a difference.”
