Travel + Leisure will stage its first international World's Best Summit in London on October 27 and 28, 2026, taking the sold-out B2B thought-leadership event outside New York for the first time in its three-year history. The two-day gathering at Dorchester Collection's flagship The Dorchester will bring together hotel executives, travel advisors, restaurant operators, and media leaders to examine the trends reshaping hospitality and luxury travel.
The Programming
Curated by Travel + Leisure editor in chief Jacqueline Gifford, the London agenda covers media and AI, hospitality design, emerging consumer behavior, and the evolving luxury traveler. Sessions with a direct bearing on the hospitality and foodservice industries include a panel on "Game Theory: When Play Becomes the Amenity," which explores how sports programming — from padel courts to chess lounges — is influencing hotel investment and guest experience design. A session on slow travel examines the growth of river cruising and train travel and asks how operators are restructuring itineraries and amenities to meet demand for immersive, culturally rich experiences.
Speakers drawn from the hospitality and restaurant sectors include Kit Kemp, creative director of Kit Kemp Design Studio and co-founder of Firmdale Hotels; Sunaina Sethi, co-founder of JKS Restaurants; Marie-Louise Sciò, CEO and creative director of Pellicano Hotel Group; Ben Trodd, CEO of Four Seasons Yachts; and Luca Virgilio, area general manager and global director of residences at Dorchester Collection. People Inc. CEO Neil Vogel and chief innovation officer Jonathan Roberts will join Gifford for a session on how AI and shifting consumer behavior are reshaping media, travel, and culture — a conversation with direct implications for how hospitality brands position themselves to high-value travelers.
Why London, Why Now
"There are few cities that bring together travel, hospitality, design, and culture quite like London, making it an exciting destination for our first international World's Best Summit," Gifford said. London's density of luxury hotel brands, Michelin-starred restaurants, and international connectivity made it a logical launchpad for the summit's global expansion.
Sponsors — Accor Vacation Club, Destination Canada, Dorchester Collection, Explora Journeys, Explore Charleston, Hyatt Inclusive Collection, Minor Hotels, and New Orleans & Company — reflect the breadth of hospitality and destination-marketing interests converging at the event. For operators tracking where luxury hospitality investment and storytelling are heading, the sponsor roster signals which brands are betting on face-to-face industry influence as a marketing channel.
For restaurant and hospitality professionals following shifts in the luxury traveler segment, the summit's programming on slow travel and amenity-driven design offers a window into how high-spend guests are recalibrating their expectations — and how hotel and food-and-beverage operators are responding. Coverage of the event will appear across Travel + Leisure's global print and digital platforms, amplifying the ideas surfaced in London to a worldwide trade and consumer audience. Full event details are available at worldsbestsummit.com/london.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
