Behind-the-scenes of the Forbes Travel Guide Summit in Monaco
Exclusive Interview with Amanda Frasier
Amanda Frasier, President of Standards & Ratings at Forbes Travel Guide, shares her insights as the Summit returns to Monaco.
Go behind the scenes of this exceptional event and discover what truly defines excellence in luxury hospitality, through
the unique lens of Monaco and the Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer Resort.
What does the Forbes Travel Guide Summit represent today for the luxury hospitality industry?
Amanda Frasier: The Summit has had an evolution. But something that It’s always been is the heart of our purpose, which is to bring people together that have one common purpose. And that is hospitality.
So the Summit really serves as a great way for us to bring our community together, and there is no better place to do it than Monaco.
Monaco and the Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer (SBM) Resort have now hosted the Summit twice. What made Monaco a natural choice from the beginning, and what inspired you to return for a second edition?
Amanda Frasier: The Summit has naturally evolved over time. Because we are a North American-founded company, we have always had our annual gathering in the United States. But as our community of Star Award winners, the brands we work with and our partners have grown … and as we have expanded globally, it became a natural step to take this North American-based event overseas.
The question was always: where would that first move be? And Monaco was a very natural choice for us. I think philosophically Monaco aligns very well with who we are as a brand. And a lot of people in our industry had a career here, or started their career here as well.
In a world of luxury defined by constant reinvention and the art of surprise, what makes this second edition truly distinctive? What sets it apart from last year’s Summit?
Amanda Frasier: I love this question because it highlights something very true in our industry: just like in hotels, the first experience sets the level of expectation. When that guest returns, they expect something much more elaborate. The bar has been raised in their mind.
So in the hotel world, we are always striving to make things better, constantly looking to perfect and refine. And that’s very much what we want to do at Forbes Travel Guide. With the Summit, we learned a lot from our first experience last year, and I think Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer learned a lot as well. Together, using feedback on what worked well and what did not, we asked ourselves how we could improve.
It’s been a great learning experience, and this 2026 iteration includes many improvements and surprises...
How did the Resort’s integrated and highly flexible approach, with a single point of contact and a proactive team able to adapt to your needs, contribute to the overall success of the event ?
Amanda Frasier: It’s ongoing.I feel like we haven’t stopped speaking to a particular team of about five or six people for three years now, since we first started.So they’re very much like family. There are not many companies that we’re on a WhatsApp with.
The speed and efficiency of the key members of the SBM team have been very critical, especially when we’re planning this work based on the East Coast in the US, where we are on New York time and Monaco is six hours ahead. Even though we do have a team on the ground, the efficiency with which the SBM team are able to have answers ready and waiting for us, and respond to us in a minute, has been a key part of the success.
This year, even greater emphasis was placed on elevating the culinary experience: from personalized VIP welcomes to Michelin-starred gala moments or tailor-made cocktails… How did this evolution align with your vision and expectations for the Summit?
Amanda Frasier: Very much so!
Going back to what we do at Forbes Travel Guide, and the standards we believe are important when it comes to the very best guest experiences in the world, it is not about being fake, or doing it in a forced way, or simply because it is written down somewhere.
It is about doing it because you want to, and because it comes from a place of intention. Authenticity is a word that is often overused in the industry, but I do find that the approach here has really been about thinking first about the guest, and then coming up with a plan, rather than coming up with a plan and trying to fit it around the guest. I think that is a big difference.
Prestigious brands such as Louis XIII Cognac, Kaviari and Bacardi are also supporting this edition. How do these partnerships enhance the guest experience ? And how does Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer help bring them to life?
Amanda Frasier: They’re critical. We are blessed to have so many great partners, even beyond those mentioned. And to see them be so enthusiastic and aligned with the whole philosophy of remembering why we do this.
Yes, it is important to have the brands involved, but at the heart of it, we do this for the guest (or in this case, for our attendees). They are spending a lot of time away from their properties and investing a lot to be here. We want to make sure that when they leave, they feel it has been time well spent. That they invested wisely, and that they leave not only happy and having had a great time, but also with new information they can apply in their business or their lives.
What would you say are the key highlights or defining moments of this year’s Summit?
Amanda Frasier: I think for the daytime programming, some of the defining moments that we’ve elevated as we’ve grown are certainly the speakers program.
I’m obviously always excited to see our speakers. I’m particularly excited this year to hear some of our speakers and their messaging, especially because I’ve seen behind the scenes the work, time and effort spent by some of those individuals, and the tiniest details they are focused on for our audience, because they want it to be perfect.
And then, of course, the Gala. We love the Gala. It’s the shining culmination of the event.
Finally, If you had to describe Monaco and the Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer Resort in just a few words, what would you say?
Amanda Frasier: I can’t do anything in just a few words.
But for me, speaking from personal experience, and what I think is a shared reflection, Monaco is a very comfortable luxury.
Yes, Monaco is known as the birthplace of luxury, and people associate it with luxury, the events and the history here. But for me, it is a very comfortable and approachable principality.
I feel very peaceful here. It is very elegant and, of course, very friendly.
