Direction of travel in 2026 and why all businesses need talent with a hospitality-first mindset

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Entrepreneurs – "Direction of travel in 2026 and why all businesses need talent with a hospitality-first mindset"

Host: Tom Edwards
Date: December 31, 2025
Guests: Ahmed Al Hawari (Mayfair Jets), Shannon Knapp (Leading Hotels of the World)
Produced by: Monocle Radio

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Episode Overview

This episode of The Entrepreneurs focuses on the future of travel and hospitality as we move into 2026, highlighting how every business can benefit from a hospitality-driven approach and examining global trends in aviation and luxury accommodation. The program features in-depth interviews with Ahmed Al Hawari, co-founder of Mayfair Jets—a rapidly growing private aviation company—and Shannon Knapp, CEO and president of the Leading Hotels of the World. It explores resilience and adaptation in the face of global crises, evolving guest expectations, talent challenges in hospitality, and how curiosity will drive travel trends.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Building Mayfair Jets: Lessons in Agility and Opportunity

Guest: Ahmed Al Hawari, Mayfair Jets
Interviewer: Laura Kramer

• Launching Amidst Crisis (02:05–06:00)

  • Ahmed reflects on starting Mayfair Jets just before the pandemic and how prior experience in handling aviation crises (like the Icelandic volcanic ash and the Arab Spring) proved invaluable.
    • “We’re used to ups and downs all the time... In aviation, you have everything set for the flight to go, then out of nothing, a very small part in the cockpit or somewhere just goes wrong and the aircraft is AOG—aircraft on ground.” (02:07, Ahmed Al Hawari)
  • The pandemic became an unexpected business accelerator through demand for evacuation and medical aid flights. The team leaned on its industry network to pivot quickly.
    • “Covid, I’m sorry to say, was good for us... The whole phases of the pandemic, we’ve been through it and it’s treated us on a business level very good. And it’s proven to the market and to our clients that we are able to actually fulfill our promises to them.” (05:27, Ahmed Al Hawari)

• Business Expansion & Services Now (06:09–08:51, 13:54)

  • The Mayfair Jets brand plays on the perceived luxury of London’s Mayfair district—a name and image that resonate with their target clients from the GCC and beyond.
    • “Mayfair... is one of the posh places in the UK and actually it’s very attractive name to certain category of our clients, especially from the GCC area.” (06:09, Ahmed Al Hawari)
  • The company’s services include:
    • Private jets for VIPs, diplomats, and UN missions
    • Scheduled charter flights to Mediterranean and Red Sea vacation destinations
    • Crisis and medical evacuation services for NGOs and relief missions
  • Benefits of a multinational setup: presence across 8 global locations enables 24/7 operations with a multilingual call center, standout service, and global reach.
    • “We have our own OCC which is 24 services reachable by all the clients and our multilingual call center based in Egypt, attending to all customers, trying to reach us around the clock.” (08:56, Ahmed Al Hawari)
  • The company's unique ballerina-inspired logo represents flexibility, readiness, and grace—values echoed in their business philosophy.

• Market Trends & Predictions for 2026 (10:53–13:54)

  • Growing demand for private jets and shifts in the travel landscape are being driven by economic factors, shifting consumer priorities, and events like the World Cup.
    • “There is amazingly bigger demand on the private jet requests and it has proven to be a product that there are people looking for it, but it’s just the reachability.” (11:18, Ahmed Al Hawari)
  • Major sporting events impact travel behavior—2026's World Cup in the US/Canada will boost travel.
  • Optimism for growth: “If we could do it in such a short period, so actually we could double that in the upcoming five years. So I think 2026 will be into more investing in you, team members or family members to join us to invade more areas of the industry.” (13:54, Ahmed Al Hawari)

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2. Hospitality as Mindset: The Power and Challenge of Talent

Guest: Shannon Knapp, Leading Hotels of the World
Interviewer: Laura Kramer

• LHW's Mission & Vision (15:22–17:06)

  • LHW represents over 400 independent five-star hotels across 80 countries, focusing on “connected, authentic, story-worthy” guest experiences.
    • “We pride ourselves on... creating an exclusive collection of independent luxury hotels that deliver extraordinary experiences... connected to people and place and that creates story-worthy moments...” (15:55, Shannon Knapp)
  • Evaluation for new members hinges on:
    1. Remarkable quality (exceptional product/experience)
    2. Remarkable people (passionate owners/visionaries)
    3. Uncommon experiences (reflective of local culture and community support)
  • Only about 5% of interested hotels are accepted annually.

• Defining Luxury: Experience & Community Impact (17:16)

  • Memorable example: The Royal Mansoor in Marrakech, which blends “extreme luxury,” authenticity, and deep community support.
    • “Not only because of the extreme luxury and authenticity of the experience, but also because that hotel is very supportive of the community. Not only provides jobs... but also supports an orphanage.” (17:16, Shannon Knapp)

• Data, Decision-Making, and Growth (18:38–20:57)

  • LHW leverages detailed data—from guest satisfaction to revenue and cross-utilization—to guide its decisions.
  • “This is 2025 will be our fourth consecutive year of record revenue performance... we’re growing 19% year over year... looking ahead to 2026, I see in fact we’re 22% ahead for next year.” (19:50, Shannon Knapp)
  • The luxury traveler’s mindset has shifted: travel is now a fundamental component of identity and self-discovery, with increased trip frequency and destination diversity.

• Talent Shortage & The Hospitality-First Mindset (21:26–24:02)

  • The industry faces acute challenges attracting and retaining skilled labor, especially post-Covid, worsened by the cost-of-living crisis.
    • “It’s extremely hard to attract new labor... The soul of the people that deliver the experience... that really define [luxury].” (21:26, Shannon Knapp)
  • Hospitality schools remain valuable, but Knapp notes the need for attracting diverse talent—including those from outside the traditional hospitality pipeline. Passion for service is the true differentiator:
    • “You can teach any skill, but if you have that intrinsic desire to connect with somebody and to make somebody happy, you’re meant for hospitality.” (22:57, Shannon Knapp)
  • Motivating teams: A strong mission drives natural engagement, focus on strategy and empowering staff.
    • “What I try and do is... set a direction... and then get out of the way and let them do what they do best.” (24:16, Shannon Knapp)

• Travel Trends, Curiosity, and Resilience (25:25–27:24)

  • Despite geopolitical and economic turbulence, curiosity is fueling resilient demand among luxury travelers.
    • “This curious traveler, this luxury traveler... their perspective on travel has changed. It has not affected their desire to travel. Might they change destinations? Sure... but they are still traveling.” (25:25, Shannon Knapp)
  • Curiosity is forecasted to drive travel patterns in 2026, with guests seeking authentic, destination-specific experiences rather than uniform luxury.
    • “Curiosity has always been at the core of who our guest has been, because they don’t want to have the same experience in Tokyo that they’re having in New York... they want an experience that is unique and tied to the destination.” (26:27, Shannon Knapp)
  • Direct flight connectivity is important, but harder-to-reach places offer rewarding, less crowded “pristine experiences.” (27:32, Shannon Knapp)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On resilience in aviation:
  “In aviation we’re used to ups and downs all the time... So it wasn’t a great shock... actually Covid, I’m sorry to say, was good for us.” – Ahmed Al Hawari (02:05–03:17)
• On luxury travel’s new meaning:
  “It is no longer something that you maybe do once or twice a year... it’s a part of who they are. It’s their journey of self-discovery.” – Shannon Knapp (20:31–20:57)
• On the hospitality-first mindset:
  “You can teach any skill, but if you have that intrinsic desire to connect with somebody and to make somebody happy, you’re meant for hospitality.” – Shannon Knapp (22:57)
• On curiosity driving the future:
  “Curiosity has always been at the core of who our guest has been. They don’t want to have the same experience in Tokyo that they’re having in New York... they want an experience that is unique and tied to the destination, to the people, to the culture.” – Shannon Knapp (26:27)

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Important Timestamps

• Mayfair Jets: Handling crises and growth: 02:05–06:00
• Service and brand expansion: 06:09–08:51
• Market trends and 2026 outlook: 10:53–13:54
• Leading Hotels of the World portfolio and criteria: 15:22–17:06
• Community impact and luxury experiences: 17:16
• Data-driven decision making and recovery from Covid: 18:38–20:57
• Labor shortages and hospitality-first mindset: 21:26–24:02
• Travel trends, curiosity, and resilience: 25:25–27:24

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Tone & Style

The episode is optimistic, insightful, and practical—balancing business realities with inspiration. Both guests demonstrate resilience, innovation, and an unwavering focus on experience, service, and people.

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Summary Conclusion

As 2026 approaches, the hospitality and travel industries are redefining themselves, putting people and authentic experience at the core. Agility, service, and a curiosity-driven approach are vital, whether in private aviation or luxury hotels. Leaders like Ahmed Al Hawari and Shannon Knapp stress that a hospitality-first mindset transcends their own sectors, offering lessons for every business aiming for exceptional service, adaptability, and growth in a rapidly changing world.

Transcript

[Ahmed Al Hawari]

Foreign.

[Tom Edwards]

Hello and welcome to the Entrepreneurs on Monocle Radio. The show all about inspiring people, innovative companies and fresh ideas in global business. On today's program, we're exploring the direction of travel as we head into a new year and taking a view from hospitality on the ground to to premium experience in the skies. First, we meet the founder of a private aviation company that's built a global network across four continents in just five years.

[Ahmed Al Hawari]

There is bigger demand on the private jet requests. It has proven to be a product that there are people looking for it, but it's just the reachability.

[Tom Edwards]

And later we'll hear why curiosity is the word of the new year for travel patterns and hear why every business can learn from hospitality minded teens.

[Shannon Knapp]

You have to be passionate about serving people. You can teach any skill, but if you have that intrinsic desire to connect with somebody and to make somebody happy, you're meant for hospitality.

[Tom Edwards]

This is the Entrepreneurs with me, Tom Edwards. You're listening to the Entrepreneurs. Ahmed Al Hawari is the co founder and chairman of Mayfair Jets, a premier aviation solutions provider he launched with his business partner Mohammed Hamid just five years ago in Dubai. Since then the company has rapidly expanded its global footprint with operations spanning Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, multiple European hubs and soon across the Atlantic as well. Our Laura Kramer caught up with Ahmed to talk about the company's remarkable international reach and the evolution of of its business. Laura began by asking him about the early days and launching an aviation company just before the world shut down.

[Ahmed Al Hawari]

In aviation we're used to ups and downs all the time. Like you have everything set for the flight to go, then out of nothing, just a very small part in the cockpit or somewhere just goes wrong and the aircraft is AOG aircraft and ground so we're not taken off and we have to handle the situation, handle the customers on board, etc. And handle the legality of the crew hours, blah, blah, blah, and being at the airport paying the expenses of it. So it wasn't a great shock. It kind of like, yeah, worried us a bit, but God is gracious. Like few days after that we started receiving from of course our network of relations in the industry and clientele. We've started receiving requests for evacuation flights, repatriation flights before people were starting knowing that the lockdown is happening or will happen. So they started actually thinking ahead and yeah, we started doing that and we had some, even some funny stories that we will never forget. So actually Covid, I'm sorry to say that was good for us.

[Laura Kramer]

It happens and I'm sure it Helped you frame the idea for the business more too, because you saw, oh, this is the opportunity, these are things that we could be doing. And you probably learned so much during that time.

[Ahmed Al Hawari]

We've been in the industry for quite some time. We've seen situations that were hard to take certain decisions during the occurrences, like, for example, the volcanic ash of the icelandic volcano in 2008, a couple of years after that, the Arab Spring and closure of certain airports and curfews. So you do have the experience that you've built up through the years and it's time to utilize it when it's your own business. So I remember during the volcanic ash, people were backlogged at airports. I was at that time working for a company that now ceases to exist, bmi, British Midlands International. I was based in Cairo. And yeah, we had three days passengers backlogged at the airport. They didn't know what to do. So. And no PAs in the airport, no one is talking to anyone. So I actually had to literally come stand up on the checking counter and shout at people who's got medical condition. And 200 people would just raise their hands and they're bodybuilders and full fitted. So then who's with family? A guy will grab a kid who doesn't know, ah, yes, I am here. So it's fun. But came the the pandemic. When we started Mayfair jets, the situation was a little different. This is some sort of a crisis. People are worried, they don't know what's the impact on their lives, on their health. So we had to be a little bit more sensitive handling the situation. Of course, we have to be sensitive in all such situations. We started first by offering our private jet services, but then we came to find that there are other people who are not able to afford this. So we started offering bigger commercial jets to actually take passengers back home. And that worked very good. Later on came the demand for the masks. Yeah, so exactly those everywhere. Exactly right. Then came the medical aids flights where we had to send vaccines from two. So the whole phases of the pandemic, we. We've been through it and it's treated us on a business level, very good. And it's proven to the market and to our clients that we are able to actually fulfill our promises to them.

[Laura Kramer]

Well, let's talk about the company today then. Five years in, what are all the services that you offer? And I would love to also know, why did you call it Mayfair Jets?

[Ahmed Al Hawari]

Mayfair jets is an area in London which is, as the British say, it's one of the posh places in the UK and actually it's very attractive name to certain category of our clients, especially from the GCC area. So we thought okay, we can actually use Mayfair Jets, Mayfair as a name and associate it with jets so it will actually be ear catching for them. And it did work especially I know Mayfair and I love the neighborhood over there. So this is how the name came.

[Laura Kramer]

And what are all the services that you provide now?

[Ahmed Al Hawari]

We provide private jets to, to top VIPs, government officials, official delegations, etc. But also we're not limited to this. We offer our services to certain international organizations, parts of the United nations, for example, for official diplomatic missions and so on. This is one part, another part. We offer scheduled charter services out of predominantly Europe from Germany, for example Italy, France, Czech Republic, Poland to summer holiday destinations, mostly the Red Sea area in Egypt, but we also have scheduled flights to Tunisia, to Turkey, to Greece, to Palma de Mallorca. So in that section we actually have the full setup of full geared up airline only without the aircraft and the crew where we actually engage, engage with our partner airlines to block the aircraft and the hours of flights only for our operation. We've taken it a step further that we've actually hired the most professional weather flight dispatchers to work for our operation control center 247 or even the most successful network planners or revenue managers. We also develop our own systems in house. So our revenue management system is built purely by our team members in the revenue department and they're doing a great job over there. That's one part. Another part comes because of the experience that we had from the crisis of Kabul in Afghanistan and alongside with the COVID period. So we offer services of evacuation flights to certain NGOs, some relief night, some medical support or missions of doctors or people going for support to certain areas in the world. We make it reachable, doable and safe for them.

[Laura Kramer]

And you can reach a lot more airports with a private jet, a smaller jet, can't you then?

[Ahmed Al Hawari]

You're absolutely right. And this actually differentiates us a little bit more than others in the market because we are a group of companies and we have eight global locations around the world. So we have the headquarters is in Dubai, but we have companies in Egypt, Saudi, Germany, the uk, Spain, Italy, Indonesia and soon across the Atlantic as well. It helps us being with all time zones available regardless of any time. Also mentioning this, we have our own OCC which is 24 services reachable by all the clients and our multilingual call center based In Egypt, attending to all customers, trying to reach us around the clock.

[Laura Kramer]

I also wanted to touch on the logo. It's a very fascinating logo. It looks like a ballerina. It is dancing. Tell me about that.

[Ahmed Al Hawari]

Well, when we started the idea of Mayfair jets, we sat brainstorming together, myself and my partner and we started drawing things on paper scraps. Then it's very stereotype, it's very kind of traditional, the stereotype sort of wing that represents your in the aviation industry. Then we, we thought why don't we combine our philosophy with the relation to the industry which is the wings and aircraft. So we thought the most flexible form of human is actually the ballerina. Right. She's also with the feminine characteristics of being tender, gentle, but yet super flexible, able to move and able to do all those artistic sentences with amazement or amusement to the the audience. So we thought the best thing to resemble that would be so such an image of an athlete reflecting flexibility and readiness.

[Laura Kramer]

Well, let's get into the travel then because you're best placed to tell us where are the growing markets? Where are maybe the places that people are kind of cooling off on? What are you seeing?

[Ahmed Al Hawari]

There are too many factors that would actually change the compass of direction of travel, one of which is globally now, which is the general economical situation everywhere. And it has definitely affected the purchase power of a certain middle class category who are able to save a bit of money for the vacation season to be able to travel from A to B. But that has a little bit actually declined and they're more considering, for example in Europe to have car trips from their home country to a nearby country could be by the sea. However, certain destinations are still trying to attract customers by lowering their prices, developing their services. Warm destinations, if you want to call them, are still trying to compete with each other. For example, there is a non stop competition between south of Europe in particular, let's say Greece, Turkey and north of Africa, Egypt and Tunisia. The competition is non stop. So it's here a drop in price here, it's developing the quality which actually is good and healthy for the business because it keeps the business running. However, we've also noticed over the past couple of years that there is amazingly bigger demand on the private jet requests and it has proven to be a product that there are people looking for it. But it's just the reachability now that we are in all those places, I think thanks God we're able to be there for our customers. However, also looking at certain occasions, like 2024, there was the World cup in Europe and it killed the travel market. Everyone canceled their trips and just stayed at home to watch the competition. So it affected the market big time. Next year comes the World cup in the US and Canada. So it again will, in this time it will actually boost the travel because most of the people from that part of the world would like to go to the Western hemisphere to actually see the countries participating, especially that FIFA has allowed a wider number of countries to participate in the petition. So. So which will definitely boost the travel industry next year.

[Laura Kramer]

Well, that's really good news because we've been obviously reading a lot about how travel has gone down to the U.S. lots of reports out. But you're thinking, hey, 2026 is going to be a good year for it coming back.

[Ahmed Al Hawari]

I think yes, if the visa policy is a bit changed and it's not up to me.

[Laura Kramer]

Just before I let you go, tell me, what are you most excited for in 2020, whether for the business or for the industry, what makes you excited?

[Ahmed Al Hawari]

When we started Mayfair jets we never thought that we would grow that big that fast. So now it's made us a little bit more greedy. So yeah, if we could do it in such a short period, so actually we could double that in the upcoming five years. So I think 2026 will be into more investing in you, team members or family members to join us to invade more areas of the industry. Regardless, wherever that was.

[Tom Edwards]

Ahmed Al Hawari, co founder and chairman of Mayfair jets and you can find out more about the business by heading to mayfairjets.com. You're listening to the entrepreneur. Shannon Knapp is the CEO and president of the Leading Hotels of the World, a nearly century old Swiss owned organization representing more than 400 independent luxury properties across 80 countries. From its headquarters in New York City, the company continues to champion great hoteliers and one of a kind guest experiences across the globe. Shannon stopped by Monaco's pop up radio studio at the recent international luxury travel market in Cannes to chat with our Laura Kramer and about the evolving expectations of today's luxury traveler and the future of independent hospitality. Laura kicked things off by asking Shannon about LHW's impressive portfolio.

[Shannon Knapp]

So we have over 400 independent luxury hotels all around the world. 80 countries, six continents, not quite yet. Antarctica. About 80% of them are family led, 90% of them are independent and 100% of the climate collection is five star luxury. And it's something that we pride ourselves on is really creating an exclusive collection of independent luxury hotels that deliver extraordinary experiences for travelers. That is authentic, that is Connected to people in place and that creates story worthy moments that today's luxury travelers are looking for.

[Laura Kramer]

And when you're looking to add to the family, to bring somebody in, what are those factors that you're considering?

[Shannon Knapp]

Yeah, there's really three key things that we look at. Because we are an exclusively five star luxury brand. The very first hurdle to clear is quality. We call it remarkable quality. And we're really looking to have hotels who can bring exceptional product and experiences to the portfolio and meet the very high bar for quality that we have. Secondly, we look at the remarkable people behind the hotels. So the owners, these visionaries of hospitality who have a power passion for what they do. And you know, we're really a collection that's all about bringing together as community of visionaries and celebrating and strengthening independence. That's really what we're all about. And then the third piece is uncommon experiences. So can you create an experience that is reflective of the culture, the place that you're in? Can you create story worthy moments? So that's how we evaluate the prospects who wish to be a of the member of leading hotels in the world. And it works fairly well. We had a 13% increase last year in terms of the number of hotels interested in membership and we still only accept about 5% every year.

[Laura Kramer]

Wow.

[Shannon Knapp]

Which was about 40 hotels this year.

[Laura Kramer]

Now, I don't want to put you on the spot to pick a favorite baby, by any chance, because I would never, ever, ever ask you, but, but tell me, you know, tell me some of the unique experiences that people can find then.

[Shannon Knapp]

Yeah, I mean, I often go to. One of my most special experiences was at the Royal Mansoor in Marrakech. An extraordinary service experience. And not only because of the extreme luxury and authenticity of the experience, but also because that hotel is very supportive of the community. Not only provides jobs for hundreds of people in the community, but also supports an orphanage. So they create this beautiful community of children who they have generations now of support that they've given. So and we had the opportunity to visit this orphanage and see the work in action in terms of how they supported the local community. So that's to me an extraordinary experience. Not only because of the hotel experience, but because of the leadership role that they're playing in the community. I've had extraordinary experiences all over the world. Adair Manor is another favorite of mine in Ireland. Had the opportunity to go there, play golf and just feel like living in a manner. It was quite extraordinary.

[Laura Kramer]

You know, one of the things, obviously president and CEO, many hats that you Wear. A lot of data goes into this. Tell me about that because I know you're very results driven, visionary as many have people have said about you. You would never say that about yourself. I'm sure you're too humble. But tell me about what are the data points? What are you using to make your decisions?

[Shannon Knapp]

Yeah, I mean, it depends on the context. Right. But of course, we're constantly looking at our performance for our member hotels and how are we doing in terms of driving revenue to them, how are we doing in terms of driving new customers to them? How are we doing moving customers and travelers around the community of leading hotels? So cross utilization is, is a, is a number I look at as well. We're also very much so maniacally focused on the guest satisfaction of our travelers. Also the satisfaction of our hoteliers with their experience with leading as our, as our customers and of course our employees. Because from a leading hotel's perspective, it's, I do think that it's our team that makes the experience so special for our hoteliers. So always look at those things. Keep an eye on the external environment as well. Try and get as much information as we can about competitive performance. Also benchmarking information for from partners like CoStar. There is no shortage of information trends, leisure travel trends, business travel trends from McKinsey and others. So yeah, there's no shortage of data or information that we like to integrate into our strategies. It's just a matter of making sure that you do something with that.

[Tom Edwards]

Right.

[Laura Kramer]

Is there anything that's maybe surprising you from all this data, maybe looking forecasting to the next year that's like, oh, that's happening?

[Shannon Knapp]

Well, you know, so, so leading hotels has had an extraordinary recovery from COVID We really accelerated out of the curve or out of the downturn that was Covid and we've had. This is 2025 will be our fourth consecutive year of record revenue performance for our member hotels. We're growing 19% year over year. And as I keep telling my members, at some point this has to slow down. But when I look ahead to 2026, I see in fact we're 22% ahead for next year at the same same point we were at this time last year. So the momentum is continuing. And that momentum is not just driven by rate, it's being driven by volume. So reservations and room nights are up commensurate with how much the rate is up as well. So it's very healthy growth. And I think what we have learned is that the luxury traveler has changed their perspective on the role of travel in their life. It is no longer something that you maybe do once or twice a year or three times a year. It's something that is a part of who they are. It's their journey of self discovery. And we're seeing that they're taking more trips than ever and they're going more places than ever. And it's extraordinary.

[Laura Kramer]

I wanted to touch on the point you mentioned about community, because one thing that we keep reading about, certainly in the news, we keep seeing a lot of pushback against Airbnb, both from people who are, like, using it are saying, I don't want to pay to take out the garbage and I have to pay you a cleaning fee. At what point would it be better for me to just stay in a hotel? And I just wondered. A lot of the pushback also comes from how it impacts the communities and how it can really cost of living. It drives up rents from where you're sitting. How are you seeing that conversation?

[Shannon Knapp]

I think one of the challenges that hospitality has in general is that it's extremely hard to attract new labor to the market. And I think if you layer on the cost of living and cost of housing impacts that some models and it's not just Airbnb, but that that there's a lot of macroeconomic things that are happening as well. So when you layer that on, it makes it twice as hard for especially luxury hotels to find the labor that they need to deliver what is truly the luxury experience, because anybody can build a beautiful hotel. But really, it's the soul of the people that deliver the experience of that hotel that really define. So I look at it in terms of how it affects how some of these macroeconomic trends and other trends affect the ability for our hotels to do what they do. And that from my perspective, cost of living housing is a real big challenge. And then making a career in luxury or in any hospitality after Covid has been hard. A lot of people left the business and are not coming back. And so how do we make sure we make hospitality a really attractive career path? And what can we do to support that? That's education, that's awareness. That's changing the way some of our career development happens at the hotel, in the operations side as well as on the brand side. So there's a lot of work that we as an organization can do and more collectively and impactfully, we as an industry could do.

[Laura Kramer]

I love that you brought that up. Are you a believer, for example, in hospitality schools? How are you finding the talent? How do you Think, how do you see somebody and think, oh, this person gets it, they know what we're about, we need them on our team and they see it as a vocation, they see it as a long term career.

[Shannon Knapp]

Yeah, no, it's a really great point. I think. I believe in the hospitality schools very strongly. I think they're training amazing people. I think we have to do a better job of making sure that the people who go to hospitality school then come and work in hospitality and don't go to pharmaceuticals and don't go to other companies that are recruiting very heavily from hospitality schools because of that education. But as somebody who did not attend hospitality school and has diverse experience in financial services and other areas, I do think that the industry can benefit from having a diverse mix of talent, experience and training. I think on the operational side, the number one thing is that you have to be passionate about serving people and being around people and you can teach any skill. But if you have that intrinsic desire to connect with somebody and to make somebody happy, you're meant for hospitality. I think anybody can learn the skills. So I think it's really about discovering the type of person who could be passionate about this. And is it truly a vocation to make a career?

[Laura Kramer]

Yeah, I was just gonna say you have to start poaching them from the finance schools. Then we too can play this game.

[Shannon Knapp]

That's right. That's right. No, I believe the industry will be stronger if we have a diverse mix of talent and experience. For sure.

[Laura Kramer]

That's great on that. Once you have the talent, how do you keep your teams inspired? Especially when the industry is moving so fast?

[Shannon Knapp]

Yeah, I think, you know, so from what I would consider a corporate level of leading, it's a little bit of a different animal than it is on the operational hotel side. For us, you know, leading hotels of the world, it's almost 100-year-old company and we are very driven by our mission, which is to empower hoteliers. Independent hotelier is to stay independent. That is what we are here to do. I won't go so far as to say we're mission mission based, but we're very close and everybody who works at leading Hotels of the world is passionate about that mission. So it's not hard to motivate them. They love what they do, they love the hotels, they love their clients and their, their guests, their customers. So from a motivation perspective for them, it's, I think many of them, it comes from them directly. What I try and do is quite honestly set a set of direction Set a strategy, set a vision, explain why that is, and then get out of the way and let them do what they do best. Because I think we have one of the best teams in the entire industry who are dedicated and passionate about what they do.

[Laura Kramer]

You touched on this before, too. There is a lot of economic uncertainty right now, certainly geopolitical uncertainty. How does that impact you? How do you view it?

[Shannon Knapp]

Yeah, it's a great question, because when we were talking earlier about what's surprising me, and I shared that, you know, next year is even stronger than this year, which was even stronger than last year. I think when some of the geopolitical issues emerged in the last 18 months or so, two years or so, I think I was very concerned. We were looking at cancellation rates every day. We were looking at production. Was it having any impact? And the fact of the matter is this curious traveler, this luxury traveler, because their perspective on travel has changed. It has not affected their desire to travel. Might they change destinations? Sure, they might choose to go somewhere else, but they are still traveling. And that is what is fueling this success that this entire industry is seeing, is just people who will no longer put off taking a trip. They might shift, but they won't put it off.

[Laura Kramer]

We had some. Somebody earlier who I asked him what the word for 2026 is in terms of travel. He said curiosity. So it seems like you're kind of maybe agreeing curiosity is really driving this, right?

[Shannon Knapp]

Oh, yeah, without a doubt. I mean, we see this. One of the trends that we're seeing is people exploring further afield, going to new destinations. We just added a hotel in Georgia. We have a hotel in Mongolia. We have a hotel in Reunion. And I think that people will, because they're traveling more often, they're not going to forego their favorite places. They're still going to go to their favorite places, but they're willing now to also go further afield to discover new things. And that has always been our focus as, you know, an independent collection. The only thing that combines or links our hotels together is really the commitment to quality and the fact that they are all individual and different. And so for us, curiosity has always been been at the core of who our guest has been, because they don't want to have the same experience in Tokyo that they're having in New York that they're having in Miami. They want to have an experience that is unique and tied to the destination, to the people, to the culture. And that is exactly what our hotels do.

[Laura Kramer]

And how important is it, you know, connectivity actually direct Flights, easy travel, you know, to how a destination performs.

[Shannon Knapp]

Of course, I mean, if you can't, if you can't get there easily, it's going to be hard for it to be, to grow. But I think there's a, it's a blessing and a curse because I think the harder a destination is to get to, the less crowded it'll be and the more authentic discovery you can do as a traveler. So I think Lyft is important. You have to be able to get somewhere. But I think it's also not the worst thing to have to take a flight to 3A boat to get somewhere because I think the rewarding experience on the other side of not having crowds and being able to truly immerse yourself in the experiences is pretty cool. I was just telling a story the other day to somebody. They asked me how I vacation and I say my number one rule is my vacations have to have at least two flights because I live in New York. And, you know, if it's a direct flight from New York City, it's bound to be crowded. So for me, I try and take connecting flights somewhere to reduce the crowds and be able to have some untouched, pristine experiences.

[Tom Edwards]

That was Shannon Knapp, the CEO and president of the leading hotels of the world. And you can find out more about the group by heading to lhw.com. And that's all for this episode of the Entrepreneurs. We'll be back at the same time next week. The show is produced by Laura Kramer with audio editing by Jack Dewars. You can listen again and find out more about the [e-mail] that's where you can subscribe to Monocle magazine and read more about better businesses every month. If you'd like to get in touch with the team, do email Laura on lrkonical.com I'm Tom Edwards. Goodbye and thanks for listening to the Entrepreneurs. Wishing you a fantastic 2026 from all the.