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Shannon Knapp, CEO of Leading Hotels of the World, On What Real Leadership Looks Like and Why Independent Luxury Matters More Than Ever
- Emily Goldfischer
- 3 hours ago
- 6 min read
Hertelier Leadership Conversations: a recurring series of candid conversations with women leading at the highest levels of hospitality, unpacking ambition, responsibility, impact, and what it really takes to hold all three at once.
Nearly a century in, The Leading Hotels of the World continues to define luxury through independence, heritage, and a deep sense of place. Leading that legacy is Shannon Knapp, a CEO whose path into hospitality was anything but conventional.
Knapp did not begin her career in hotels. Armed with a degree in international relations and an early ambition to work in intelligence, she instead landed at American Express, where she spent 15 years building deep expertise in marketing, loyalty, and travel. That foundation now underpins her leadership of a global collection of 425+ independent, five-star hotels, most of them family-owned and privately held.
I chatted with Shannon amid the bustle of the Leading Hotels booth at ILTM, where she spoke candidly about leading with purpose while navigating the scale, standards, and responsibility of a nearly century-old organization. We also talked about motherhood, mentorship, and the career decisions that rarely make headlines but shape leadership over decades. Shannon is clear-eyed about trade-offs, lateral moves, and why ambition does not need to be softened to be sustainable.
You recently opened Leading Hotels’ convention in Bangkok with a call for leaders to lead with purpose in a moment of complexity. What does purpose look like for you as a CEO, but also as a human?
When we talk about leading with purpose, that is something The Leading Hotels of the World stands for. It is built into our mission. We are here to empower independent luxury hoteliers to make the decision to stay independent and to deliver the commercial success they need to do so. From a professional perspective, that clarity is our purpose as an organization.
On a personal level, my purpose is my family and my kids. I really love spending time with them. I have a boy and a girl, and I love showing them that women can be both moms and successful leaders and do hard things. For me, it is about loving being a mom, loving my work, and sharing that with my family.
How old are your kids?
Seven and nine.
I remember those days! Such great ages for travel.
It really is. We travel often, usually to the Caribbean or Mexico, but recently we took them for the first time to London and Scotland. They soaked up every part of the experience.
Kids can go one of two ways. They can be curious and excited, or they can be shy and nervous. Watching my kids be curious, open, and excited about new places has been amazing. Traveling with them now is so much fun.
Leading Hotels has had a standout year. What do the world’s top ultra-luxury independent hotels have in common?
We are almost 98 years old, founded by 38 European hoteliers who believed that working together would help them reach the emerging luxury travel market. That spirit of collective collaboration is still part of our DNA.
Today, we have more than 425 hotels globally. About 80 percent are family-led. Ninety percent are independent. One hundred percent are privately owned.
When a hotel has been passed down through generations, there is a deep sense of pride in what is being delivered. Pride in the destination, the culture, the people, and the property itself. Because these owners are rooted in their destinations, they have relationships with local artisans, winemakers, and communities. That personal element is what creates authenticity, and it matters enormously.
You come from a loyalty and membership background. What is one misconception about loyalty in luxury you wish the industry would retire?
That loyalty is built through points and perks alone. Loyalty is built through recognition, personalization, and respect.
Points and benefits are nice, but if you are not delivering on those three aspects of the guest experience, no amount of points or free breakfasts will make up for it. Loyalty is built by the person in front of you, by acknowledging them and personalizing the experience based on what you know about them.
It sounds simple, but it is very hard to operationalize at scale. At the end of the day, people want to feel seen.
Leading Hotels is often described as a pioneer of what the industry now calls “soft brands.” How do you think about that evolution?
We do not see this as a trend. We have been doing this for 97 years! It is who we are as a community.
I understand why many brands want to enter this space. Consumers are seeking stories, authenticity, and connection to culture, place, and people more than ever. But true independence and family ownership create a level of authenticity that is very difficult to replicate.
When you are welcoming someone into a hotel that has been owned and operated by a family for generations, you are welcoming them into someone’s home. There is no more authentic way to deliver hospitality.
What unites such different properties around the world? How does a guest know they are at a Leading Hotel?
There are physical and emotional connections. Physically, every hotel has the Leading Hotels plaque, along with brand touchpoints throughout the experience.
Emotionally, the connection comes through our Leaders Club loyalty program. Through recognition, storytelling, content, and experiences, guests feel acknowledged whether they are traveling to London, Milan, or Chile. That sense of recognition and respect is what connects the experience.
You mentioned 800 standards during your press briefing. How do you manage quality across 425+ hotels?
Quality is critical because we are exclusively five-star. We are the only global collection that is exclusively five-star, and credibility matters.
We look at three inputs: guest satisfaction scores, our annual third-party quality inspection, and aggregated online reviews. We combine those into a score and rank every hotel from one to 425.
Hotels in the bottom 15 percent are at risk of being removed. Our preference is always to coach and elevate quality. Our average hotel tenure is 15 years. But we also have a responsibility to our guests and our members to protect the integrity of the collection.
How does a hotel become part of Leading Hotels of the World?
There are three paths. Referrals from existing members. Trusted industry referrals. And proactive scouting by our development teams in the Americas, Europe, and Asia.
Quality is the first filter. If a hotel does not meet the quality bar, the process stops immediately. After that, we evaluate the people, ownership, experience, and whether they will be an engaged and aligned member of our community.
You didn’t start your career in hospitality. Can you talk about that journey?
I actually wanted to be a spy. I studied international relations and wanted to work in intelligence. Instead, I joined American Express in a marketing role, even though I had not studied marketing.
I fell in love with it. I spent 15 years at American Express, primarily in marketing and loyalty, working on travel products and spending a lot of time on the road. Being surrounded by one of the best service brands in the world and learning alongside incredibly smart people completely changed the trajectory of my career. I thought I would go in one direction, and that experience opened another.
What is a misconception about leadership you wish hospitality would retire?
That the leader knows everything. A leader does not know everything. Our job as leaders is to assemble a team that is capable and empowered to do what they do best. Our role is to set direction, empower people, and then get out of the way.
You’ve spoken openly about ambition. How do you think about it, especially for women?
Ambition is often seen as a dirty word, especially for women. But ambition does not mean being aggressive. It means having a plan.
You need to know where you want to go, what skills you have, and what skills you need to develop. If you do not say what you want, the likelihood of it happening is very low.
What advice would you give to women rising into senior leadership?
There are two things.
First, not every move needs to be vertical. Lateral moves allow you to learn what you enjoy, what you do not, and to gain exposure to new products, markets, and customers. Having taken different paths, I am very well-rounded in my experience and skill set, and that has mattered enormously.
Second, only you are responsible for managing your career. You have to own it.
Many women struggle with public speaking. What advice has actually helped you?
The advice Ted Teng, Leading Hotel’s former CEO, gave me was simple: no one else knows what you are going to say except you. So you can’t really make mistakes!
What has helped me most is doing it more. We tend to shy away from things that make us uncomfortable and give those opportunities to others. The more you practice, the more confident you become, and the stronger the audience connection is.
Looking back now, I can say clearly that doing it more often is what built my confidence. So even if you do not want to hear it: do it.
Looking ahead, what will matter most in luxury over the next five years?
Authentic connection to people and place. Wellness will continue to evolve beyond spas and gyms into integrated health, mental well-being, and longevity. Luxury will increasingly be about helping people reconnect with themselves and experience destinations more deeply.