Choctaw Casino & Resort Hospitality is very connected to a rich cultural heritage in Choctaw. The story of Choctaw is rooted in ancestral land throughout Mississippi and Alabama today, and is formed by forced relocation in the 1830s known as The Trail of Tears. At present, The Choctaw Nation respects the heritage through a successful company, including hospitality and games, which supports the prosperity of ethnicity and regional tourism.

The journey of tribal hospitality began in the 1990s with Bingo Halls across Oklahoma. What started as a simple place to play eventually grew into a full scale resort, especially after the table game was introduced in the early 2000s. When interest increases, the tribe sees the need to offer staying overnight and higher quality guest experiences, which causes the launch of the Choctaw Hotel property.

Now, Choctaw operates four resorts in Oklahoma, including the mainstay durant resort near the Texas border, grant property, choctaw landing, and pocola near Fort Smith, Arkansas.

Choctaw core game guests are usually a 55+ aged traveler with higher income, including many retirees. Families visit during the peak season such as spring break, while the spectators of concerts and fans outdoors are interested in direct entertainment and beautiful experience at Choctaw Landing.

We talk to Edmund Wong, Company Director of Income Optimization For Choctaw Nation about how the siteminder has changed their income strategy and streamlined operations throughout their property.

Narrow distribution lens limits potential

Before adopting siteminder technology, the Choctaw team did not prioritize, or even consider, open their property to a wider distribution channel. Their strategy focuses almost exclusively to casino guests. Online Travel Agencies (OTA) or Global Distribution Systems (GDS) is mostly not in their approach.

Edmund remembers that “We don’t really have a pre-siteminder distribution strategy. We are happy with what we have and that limits our growth.”

Expanding the distribution network is important to create new income opportunities, even trigger considerations for property expansion due to increased visibility and demand.

“This helps us think differently about growth: more guests, more visibility, more requests … who create momentum for expansion.”

Growth in harmony with distribution restructuring

The transformation began in 2015 when the tribe created a dedicated role management role, marking the shift from the previous approach Hotel Operation The team handles all orders and channel management without formal income strategies.

The siteminder is the foundation for this new strategy by allowing A Channel manager The connection required by the provider of their ordering machine, which instantly increases the visibility of the brand websites and slim operations. After the implementation, the centralized order and management system creates ripple effects that improve performance and visibility.

This team also adheres to tools such as siteminder insights for performance reporting and Plus channel For expanded and slim distribution. Edmund admitted that the team was very dependent on insight for reporting and performance analysis and that the plus channel had become a prominent addition mainly because of their unique legal considerations and sovereignty as American indigenous tribes.

Each contract requires time to overcome ethnic sovereignty, so that every action that saves time our legal team is very valuable. “

Reliable efficiency and easy expansion

In addition to saving time, the biggest benefit is the ease of use. The team no longer needs to enter several extranet or manually take virtual credit card information, because the siteminder consolidates the main tasks into one platform. This operational simplicity has reduced the workload and provided the team’s freedom to focus on strategic projects and income driving initiatives.

“This is freeing the team to conduct deeper analysis and better decision making. That’s where the real value,” Edmund shared.

Choctaw also uses AgilySys LMS as their property Property management systemWith a smooth integration to the existing siteminder for four years.

“We have a fairly solid experience with integration, especially with AgilySys. It has been smooth from the beginning,” said Edmund.

This reliable connection supports efficient daily operations and gives confidence to the team to their technology ecosystem. Since implementing the siteminder, Choctaw Casinos & Resorts has seen significant growth in property size and number of rooms.

“We have doubled in size since I arrived. Not all of the tools, but the ability to attend and be active in more channels must encourage ordering,” Edmund shared.

While marketing and operations play a role, there is no doubt that broader distribution access contributes to increasing sustainable orders and growth.

Thank you, Edmund, for your extraordinary feedback and we hope that the Choctaw Casino and Resort are all the best in the future.