Profilo societario

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.

Daniel Neumann è stato nominato Senior Vice President e CFO di The Leading Hotels of the World nel dicembre 2008. Sovrintende tutte le attività amministrative e finanziarie, controlla crescita e sviluppo del business. Neumann entra in The Leading Hotels of the World nell’ottobre del 1998 e nel settembre 2002 viene nominato Direttore Finanziario.

Prima di entrare in The Leading Hotels of the World, Neumann è stato Corporate Controller del Lowell Hotel di New York e de L’Ermitage di Beverly Hills, dove ha supervisionato i costi di restauro (attorno ai 40 millioni di dollari); per entrambi gli hotel, ha controllato tutti gli aspetti finanziari. Neumann inizia la sua carriera presso Pannell Kerr Forster, società internazionale di consulenza che ha lasciato nel luglio 1994 con il ruolo di Senior Manager.

Mr. Neumann ha un Bachelor of Science in contabilità ottenuto presso la Villanova University; ha inoltre conseguito il prestigioso CPA (Certified Public Accountant) nel novembre 1987.

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 è stata nominata Vice President, Membership per The Leading Hotels of the World nell’aprile 2010. Deniz Omurgonulsen è responsabile di tutti gli affiliati LHW e ne gestisce lo sviluppo; è inoltre responsabile della certificazione di qualità e segue la performance degli hotel in portfolio.

Deniz Omurgonulsen è entrata in LHW nel 2005 come responsabile della pianificazione strategica. Nel 2006 diventa Director of Membership Development, sovrintendendo alle nuovi acquisizioni e alle strutture già appartenenti a LHW. Omurgonulsen è stata socio chiave del Quality Committee, che monitora l’alto livello degli standard richiesti ad ogni hotel affiliato.

Prima di entrare in The Leading Hotels of the World, Deniz Omurgonulsen si è occupata di Operations per Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, in particolare per il Pierre di New York. Oltre a questa mansione, ha guidato numerose iniziative di successo per l’intera azienda, fra cui speciali training pre-opening di hotel e l’implementazione di una piattaforma globale di e-learning.

Deniz Omurgonulsen è laureata cum laude presso la Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration.

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 è stata nominata Vice President, Responsabile Area Legale di The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd. nel dicembre 2013.

Mrs. Ziluca è entrata in LHW nel 2007 ricoprendo il ruolo di responsabile dell'ufficio legale; sovrintende tutte le questioni di questo tipo, inclusi i contratti stipulati dall'organizzazione.

Susan Ziluca vanta un'esperienza di oltre 25 anni maturata sia in studi privati che in Società; è specializzata in transactional work, general contract e affari istituzionali.

Mrs. Ziluca si è laureata presso la University of Pennsylvania con un diploma e un master in scienze umanistiche, conseguiti rispettivamente magna cum laude e summa cum laude, e ha ottenuto il JD degree (Juris Doctor) con lode presso la Rutgers School of Law di Newark.