Unternehmen im Überblick

Andrea Scherz is the third-generation proprietor and general manager of one of the most iconic family-led hotels in the world, Gstaad Palace. The Swiss property has been a member of The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd. for more than 60 years.

Mr. Scherz served on the Executive Committee since 2011, most recently as Vice Chairman since 2019. He was appointed to the position of Chairman in November 2021, effective January 2022. Mr. Scherz follows in the footsteps of his father, Ernst Andrea Scherz, who also served as chairman of Leading Hotels for 15 years.

In his role, Mr. Scherz sits at the helm of the Executive Committee which is comprised of seven hoteliers that represent over 60 shareholder members of The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd. His mission with the executive committee and Leading Hotels’ management team is to connect and empower hoteliers to stay independent.

Mr. Scherz grew up in the hotel business at Gstaad Palace and studied at École Hôtelière de Lausanne. Before returning to Gstaad, he worked for various hotels in the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Italy and the United States, including the Beau-Rivage, Savoy, and InterContinental. He returned home in 1996 assuming the position of general manager in 2001. In addition to his role at LHW he holds a board seat with Swiss Deluxe Hotels and the Gstaad-Saanenland Airport Association.

Shannon Knapp became the president and chief executive officer of The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd. in 2019. She is a results-driven, visionary leader with more than 20 years of experience and has been instrumental in spearheading the transformation and growth of The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd.

For more than a decade, Ms. Knapp has been a driver of innovation at The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd. Her leadership has contributed to the Company achieving historic revenue milestones, exceeding $1 billion in both 2022 and 2023. She guides 200 global employees to empower the commercial success of  more than 400 of the world’s most exceptional independent, luxury hotels. Her dedication to excellence and a relentless commitment to independent hotels have firmly established her as a trailblazer within the travel industry. 

Assuming the position of president and chief executive officer just six months prior to the global pandemic, Ms. Knapp exemplified resilience, humanity and confidence in navigating one of the most devastating disruptions to the travel sector. Under her leadership, Leading Hotels’ members emerged from the crisis stronger than ever, and the Company achieved record-setting revenue in consecutive years, 2022 and 2023.

During this pivotal period, she collaborated with her management team to overhaul the Company’s business model, better aligning it with the dynamic needs of independent hotels. The strategic shift extends beyond revenue generation and guest acquisition, and encompasses comprehensive hotel operations, IT support, cost saving initiatives, and customer and market insights. Ms. Knapp’s vision enables hoteliers to thrive in the rapidly evolving industry landscape, ensuring their sustained success.

Prior to serving as president and chief executive officer at The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd., Ms. Knapp held the position of senior vice president and chief marketing officer for over five years. In the role she created breakthrough brand and data-driven marketing strategies, transformed the customer experience, and accelerated brand loyalty for the more than 90-year-old company. She oversaw the various marketing divisions and was responsible for the redesign and 2018 relaunch of Leading Hotels’ loyalty ecosystem, Leaders Club. Additionally, she built the marketing analytics and customer insights organization to drive a paradigm shift in the use of data to inform marketing strategy, resulting in an increase of marketing efficiency and millions of dollars in incremental revenue for member hotels.

Prior to joining The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd., Ms. Knapp spent 15 years at American Express,  where she served as vice president of marketing for American Express Travel and director of premium cardmember marketing. In her vice president role, she was responsible for leading U.S. customer acquisition and loyalty marketing, branding and public relations strategies, with global oversight of communications and compliance programs for the multi-billion-dollar global travel organization. She transformed the marketing approach to accelerate lead generation for all distribution channels, delivering an increase in the acquisition of new customers. She also led the strategic marketing programs which supported luxury travel partners.

Ms. Knapp received her Bachelor of Arts in international relations from Colgate University where she studied abroad for a semester in Geneva, Switzerland.

Chris Walker brings more than 20 years of hospitality, sales and marketing expertise to The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd. He was appointed to the position of Senior Vice President, Global Sales in July 2019, previously serving as Senior Vice President of Sales - Americas at Leading Hotels from 2014 to 2018.

As Senior Vice President, Global Sales, Mr. Walker is responsible for leading the global sales organization and strategy across the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East, and Africa. He is focused on ensuring alignment across the more than 20 sales locations throughout the world to drive maximum impact for Leading Hotels’ members and the company’s global client base.

In the position of Senior Vice President, Sales-Americas, Mr. Walker streamlined sales efforts while driving double digit annual hotel revenue growth within some of the company’s largest offices. He oversaw technology implementations to increase sales efficiency and process redesign to enhance relationships with hoteliers and critical sales accounts.

Mr. Walker started his career at Hyatt in 1998. There he held various positions within the organization, including Director of Partner Marketing and Vice President of Brand Experience for four of Hyatt’s brands. He was responsible for the brand development and management of Hyatt Place and Hyatt House, two of Hyatt Hotels' fastest growing brands worldwide as well as the launch of all-inclusive brands Hyatt Ziva and Hyatt Zilara. Mr. Walker also held positions at American Express in their Service Delivery Network and Consumer Travel Network leading Fine Hotels & Resorts, American Express' Luxury Hotel program for Premium Card members.

 Mr. Walker earned his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.S. degree in Geomatics Engineering from the University of Calgary.

Als Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer überwacht Daniel Neumann seit Dezember 2008 alle Bereiche der Buchhaltung, Bürobetriebe, Unternehmensführung und Geschäftsentwicklung von The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd. Er ist seit Oktober 1998 im Unternehmen beschäftigt und wurde im September 2002 zum Senior Vice President ernannt.

Den Einstieg in die internationale Luxushotellerie machte Daniel Neumann als Corporate Controller des Lowell Hotels, New York und L’Eremitage, Beverly Hills. In dieser Position beaufsichtigte er unter anderem die 40-Millionen-US-Dollar umfassende Renovierung des Anwesens in Beverly Hills und leitete alle finanziellen Bereiche beider Hotels.

Daniel Neumann startete seine Karriere bei Pannell Kerr Forster, einer internationalen Wirtschaftsprüfungs-, Steuerberatungs- und Beratungsfirma, die er 1994 als Senior Manager verließ. An der Universität von Villanova machte er seinen Bachelor of Science und im November 1987 seinen Wirtschaftsprüfer.

Phil Koserowski was appointed vice president digital product development and marketing for the organization in September 2011. He is responsible for the development of LHW’s customer facing digital touchpoints including LHW.com and supporting language sites, LHW’s mobile initiatives, online customer acquisition and engagement via email, display, search, social media and emerging channels. Additionally, Mr. Koserowski oversees the digital product and marketing solutions LHW provides to member hotels to maximize their customer acquisition and engagement efforts. In this role, Mr. Koserowski has spearheaded recent initiatives incorporating new capabilities into LHW’s digital ecosystem including Artificial Intelligence, Natural Language Search and Predictive Intelligence.

Mr. Koserowski brings more than 23 years of experience in digital to his current role. Prior to joining LHW, he served as a partner and interactive marketing director with Ogilvy & Mather. He was also vice president interactive marketing at Sotheby’s International Realty where he was responsible for building the interactive marketing department for the global luxury real estate franchise network.

He received his Bachelors Degree in both marketing and computer applications from the University of Notre Dame.

Brigitte Van Den Houte was appointed vice president of global human resources for The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd. in April 2021. Ms. Van Den Houte’s human resources expertise spans over 20 years and multiple countries.

In her role, she is responsible for designing and implementing a new global Human Resources strategy to support the company’s strategic vision.  Under her purview, Ms. Van Den Houte works to further cultivate the Company’s growth mindset and build a high-performance culture to support the more than 400 worldwide hotels in The Leading Hotels of the World collection.

Prior to joining The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd., Ms. Van Den Houte most recently served as senior vice president, human resources, global talent management at Pitney Bowes, Inc. During her successful career she has led culture transformations within a complex environment with multiple, geographically disbursed locations around the world, including Europe, North America, Brazil, and Asia Pacific.

Ms. Van Den Houte holds a master’s degree in human resources management from Vlerick Business School in Belgium.

Deniz Omurgonulsen wurde im April 2010 zum Vice President of Membership bei The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd. (LHW) ernannt. In dieser Position ist sie zuständig für die Portfolio-Entwicklung von The Leading Hotels of the World, die LHW-Qualitätsinitiative und die Unternehmensergebnisse aller Mitgliedshotels.

Omurgonulsen stieß im März 2005 als Strategic Planning Manager zum Unternehmen. 2006 übernahm sie die Position des Director of Membership Development, in der sie seither die Mitgliederaufnahme und -bindung leitet. Außerdem war sie ein zentrales Mitglied des Qualitätskomitees, das kontinuierlich die von allen Mitgliedshotels verlangten hohen Qualitätsstandards überprüft.

Vor ihrer Zeit bei The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd. arbeitete Deniz Omurgonulsen für Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts mit damaligem Sitz im Hotel The Pierre, New York. Über Ihre Aufgaben für das Hotel selbst hinaus führte sie unternehmensweit viele erfolgreiche Schulungs- und Qualitätsinitiativen durch, darunter Voreröffnungsschulungen und die Einrichtung einer weltweiten E-Learning-Plattform.

Sie machte ihren Abschluss mit Auszeichnung an der School of Hotel Administration der renommierten Cornell University.

Lauren Alba was promoted to the position of vice president, global marketing and communications for The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd. in 2021. Ms. Alba brings over 15 years of experience in developing customer-centric marketing campaigns and communication strategies for global businesses.

In her position she leads global B2C marketing communications as well as B2B and hotel member marketing and communications. Additionally, she oversees The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd. brand management, creative services, public relations and social media efforts.

Ms. Alba joined the Company in 2014 as the director, global public relations and media partnerships where she oversaw the global public relations strategy for 12 regions and led the development and onsite management of the company's annual hotel member event. She was later appointed senior director, marketing communications in 2016. In this role she led development and execution of integrated marketing and communications strategies for guests and member hotels through brand strategy and management, content strategy and development, creative design services, public relations, social media and events.

Prior to joining The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd., Ms. Alba spent time at both American Express and Coyne PR. At American Express she held the position of senior manager of brand digital and social media marketing where she oversaw digital media partnerships and the creation of brand content across social media channels. During her time, Ms. Alba led the digital content creation for the launch of the American Express Everyday credit card, managing agencies and a multi-million dollar budget to create support assets for the launch.

Ms. Alba received her bachelor’s degree in communication from George Mason University.

Michael Lederman was appointed to the position of Vice President, Information Technology for The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd. in July 2018. A forward-thinking technology strategist and business partner, he is responsible for aligning the organization’s global technology strategy and directing operational implementation of systems and applications to improve effectiveness, service quality, and business development. Mr. Lederman joined the company in February 2017 as Senior Director, Information Technology.

Prior to joining The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd. he held IT leadership positions at Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation, Massey Knakal Realty Services and most recently Cushman & Wakefield, where he was responsible for IT strategy and managed part of a global technology solutions team. He worked on consolidating over 1000 global business applications during multiple corporate mergers to increase efficiency and reduce cost. He also established a global innovation strategy to foster innovation and better service clients and oversaw the redesign of a custom enterprise CRM, property data, and operations platform for the NY Capital Markets business.

Mr. Lederman received his MBA from Columbia Business School and Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from Rutgers University.

Susan Ziluca was appointed Vice President and General Counsel for The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd. in December 2013. Mrs. Ziluca joined the company in July 2007 as general counsel. She is responsible for overseeing all legal matters, including all contract work, of the organization.

Ms. Ziluca has more than 25 years of legal experience. She has worked both in private practice and as an in-house attorney with extensive experience in transactional work, general contract and corporate matters.

She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor of arts degree and a masters degree, magna cum laude and suma cum laude, respectively and received her JD degree with honors from Rutgers School of Law, Newark.