The Future of Luxury Starts with a Question
The rules of luxury are being rewritten. Not quietly, in boardrooms, but out in the open – on stages, in workshops, and in the kind of honest conversations that rarely happen at formal conferences. TheNewNow Future Summit brought some 350 leaders and innovators together at the Headsquarter in Zurich for exactly that: a day designed not to deliver answers, but to ask better questions.
Main image | Joe Holles de Peyer of SONMO at the Future Summit – making the case for a new kind of luxury rooted in authenticity and sustainability. With projects like SONMO in Mallorca, he showed how going back to roots and committing to the planet arenʼt constraints, but the future: ʻWe are not the problem. We are the solution: luxury must give back.ʼ
The event marks the transformation of the Swiss Deluxe Hotels Media Summit, evolving from a format that began as a platform for hospitality and communication professionals into something considerably larger. Where the original summit focused on media and positioning within the hotel industry, the Future Summit broadens the conversation to the wider Swiss luxury ecosystem: watchmakers, private banks, mobility providers, health businesses, and luxury retail, giving every component a seat at the table. The premise is simple and compelling. As organiser Evelyn Gorgos puts it: ‘When you allow different perspectives to meet and engage, solutions emerge that would never have come from within a single sector.’
From niche to ecosystem
For Swiss Deluxe Hotels, the connection runs deeper than a hosting partnership. A dedicated hospitality track explored the shifting terrain of new luxury travel and what it means to create genuine relevance in an era where status alone no longer sells. The questions on the table were familiar to anyone working at the intersection of hospitality, brand, and guest experience: How does luxury redefine itself when 60 million buyers have quietly walked away from the category? What does true connection look like when hyper-personalisation becomes the norm? And how do you lead a team and a brand through accelerating change without losing the human dimension entirely?
At the Future Summit, conversations went beyond business and into what actually matters – navigating uncertainty, leading through change and finding answers together. A safe space where honesty was welcome and collective intelligence could emerge.
The energy between the sessions
These are not abstract questions. Prof. Dr Felicitas Morhart of HEC Lausanne examined luxury in the age of hyper-personalisation. Business coach Jens Alsleben reflected on leadership through existential experience. Former star photographer Oliver Rust discussed how AI is transforming creative processes – and what remains irreducibly human. Sébastien Félix of Influence Society analysed the creative disruption triggered by artificial intelligence. And Joe Holles de Peyer of SONMO explored the intersection of ancient knowledge and regenerative innovation. The programme deliberately juxtaposed apparent opposites, creating the friction that Gorgos considers essential: ‘I don’t see the Future Summit as a conventional congress. It’s a space created for ideas to meet, cause friction, and allow for a shift in perspective.’ That spirit extended well beyond the keynote stages. Participants shaped their own day from more than 100 sessions across four themes – Media, Business, AI, and New Work – moving freely between workshops, panels, and live conversations across the Headsquarter’s multiple spaces, including the recently opened Artistic venue with its rooftop terrace, cinema, and podcast studio. Claudio Del Principe, columnist and bestselling author, hosted his celebrated pasta workshop as a team-building experience – a reminder that passion and shared creation are as relevant to leadership culture as any strategy session.
Redefining relevance
The response from the hospitality community was immediate. ‘It was wonderful to finally meet in person, and truly impressive what you’ve built here,’ wrote Rebeka Schär, director of marketing and communications at The Alpina Gstaad. ‘I’m taking home many valuable ideas and already looking forward to the next one.’ Francesca Waldvogel of La Réserve Zurich was equally warm: ‘Great exchanges took place.’ And for hospitality journalist Lisa van Leer, the day captured something harder to define: ‘I left not only with a pocket full of business cards but mostly feeling inspired and motivated.’
That, perhaps, is the most honest measure of a summit’s success. Not the number of sessions attended, or speakers seen, but lingering impressions, a new idea with the power to shift something inside of you, conversations that opened doors, or a person met at exactly the right moment.
Save the date – 22 April 2027, Zurich
ʻWhen brands lose relevance, it is rarely because of materials – itʼs because they lose emotional connection.ʼ – Evelyn Gorgos, founder, TheNewNow
Words Annelies Cook
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