MGM CEO: U.S. Needs to Fix Roads, Not Just Airports, to Boost Tourism

25.08.2023 - 13:20 / skift.com / Myrtle Beach / Sean Oneill / Bill Hornbuckle

The U.S. has kick-started a multi-year infrastructure boom, but too much of it is focused on airports, reckons Bill Hornbuckle, CEO and President of MGM Resorts International.

“It’s important that we think about roads, highways, and other ground transportation infrastructure,” Hornbuckle said. “Look, there are plenty of challenges with aviation. We all understand. But ground transportation is more important than air in most jurisdictions and destinations and for a broader number of travelers.”

Hornbuckle was partly talking out of self-interest in an interview with Skift. MGM’s dozen properties along the Strip would benefit if roadways like Interstate-15 into Las Vegas improved. Yet Hornbuckle also made a bigger picture point that affects tourism nationwide, and he spoke as chairman of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Travel and Tourism Advisory Board.

Hornbuckle cautioned that he’s not asking for more spending. He said he instead wants ground transportation to claim its fair share of already approved budget money. He said upwards of $110 billion out of about $550 billion in federal money for infrastructure could be tapped in ways that ultimately benefit tourism.

Before the pandemic, a U.S. Transportation Department commission pinpointed about 100 roads, railways, and bridges needing improvement to support tourism nationwide — with about 15 deemed essential.

Hornbuckle cited one example in Massachusetts: the Sagamore and Bourne bridges that connect Cape Cod with the rest of Massachusetts. These 90-year-old bridges need repair, he said. If they fail, tourism may dry up in much of the Cape.

Hornbuckle believes the country is taking the slow road to highway rehabilitation primarily because of process issues, not money. He cited the example of the aging Interstate 73, which was supposed to connect Michigan to Myrtle Beach. Money has been earmarked for decades but work on it has never started, he said.

“It’s about focus and prioritization,” Hornbuckle said, claiming that agencies and stakeholders aren’t coordinating.

“I went to the secretary of transportation trying to get them to reconvene the committee,” Hornbuckle said. “They’ve agreed to open the topic back up. So I want to push my industry colleagues to contact the Department of Transportation to advocate for relevant projects.”

In December, the U.S. finally got a secretary-level position for tourism. Yet Congress hasn’t funded the position, preventing the appointment of the first Assistant Secretary of Travel and Tourism at the U.S. Department of Commerce.

“We’ve got to get some funding and get a body in there,” Hornbuckle said. “The undersecretary could appoint a designee to address the subject of tourism as it overlaps between Commerce and