Rosewood is taking its campaign to build the next generation of female hospitality leaders to London. Its Rise to the Table program will return in March 2027, this time at The Chancery Rosewood in Mayfair.
The second edition follows the first residency at Rosewood Hong Kong in March 2026. Rosewood’s latest announcement lists the London residency for 7–13 March 2027. Its live program page says the core week begins on 8 March, International Women’s Day.
That timing is hard to miss. Hospitality has spent years talking about getting more women into senior roles. Rosewood now wants to turn some of that talk into a clearer career path.
Applications are open for 10 emerging women leaders from food, beverage and the wider hospitality sector. The successful group will spend a week in London. They will then move into a year of mentoring with senior Rosewood leaders. Rosewood’s official site confirms 10 places and an application deadline of 28 October 2026.
Why the year-long mentoring matters
That second part may be the real prize.
Leadership programs can vanish faster than a minibar chocolate after checkout. Rise to the Table is designed to keep going. The London week is only the start. Rosewood says the program will combine coaching, business skills, industry talks, peer connections and long-term mentoring.
Rosewood Hotel Group chief executive Sonia Cheng, who also chairs Rosewood Foundation, said the aim was to help more women move into leadership.
“Rise to the Table was created from a simple belief: championing female talent is how we shape the future of hospitality. As we bring the program to London, our ambition is to help women step into leadership roles and to inspire the lasting, systemic change our industry needs to become more inclusive and more resilient.”
It is a serious issue for a sector built around people.
Women make up a large share of the travel and hospitality workforce. Yet they are still less visible at the top. World Travel & Tourism Council research says women remain underrepresented in senior positions across travel and tourism. Research backed by the AHLA Foundation has also found that the gap grows as people move higher through hotel company ranks.
In short, the industry does not lack female talent. It still has work to do on access, sponsorship and career progression.
Rise to the Table is aimed squarely at that gap.
The London program will cover personal leadership, business strategy and innovation. It will also include professional coaching and industry discussion. Participants will meet established figures from food, beverage and hospitality. Just as important, they will meet one another.
Those peer links can matter in a global business where the next job, project or partnership often begins with a conversation.
After the residency, each participant will be paired with a senior Rosewood leader. The mentoring relationship will continue for a year. That gives the program more weight than a one-off conference or a polished panel with a bowl of mints by the door.
Mehvesh Mumtaz Ahmed, Rosewood Hotel Group’s vice president of impact and sustainability and a Rosewood Foundation board director, said the first program showed what access to the right people can do. She said the London edition would build on that momentum by linking women with skills, networks and career opportunities.
Mayfair becomes the classroom
London is also a smart choice.
The city remains one of the world’s great hospitality stages. Luxury hotels sit beside famous restaurants, neighbourhood bars and new dining concepts. Global hotel groups, investors, designers and chefs all operate there. For an emerging leader, London offers a lot of industry in a relatively small patch of the map.
The host hotel brings its own story.
The Chancery Rosewood opened on 1 September 2025 in the former US Embassy at 30 Grosvenor Square. The Mayfair hotel has 144 suites, eight restaurants and bars and an Asaya Spa. British architect Sir David Chipperfield led the restoration, while Joseph Dirand designed the interiors.
In other words, Rosewood has chosen a classroom with rather better room service than most.
Who can apply
The 2027 program is open to women working across food, beverage and hospitality. That includes chefs, bartenders, sommeliers, service professionals and women moving into broader leadership roles.
The application materials say candidates must be at least 18, committed to the hospitality industry and fluent in spoken and written English. They must also be able to travel to London for the residency. Rosewood’s release says applicants need at least five years of work experience and should be seeking mentoring and leadership coaching.
Applicants are asked for a résumé. Two reference letters are optional. They must also answer application questions by video, audio or in writing.
Applications close on 28 October 2026.
With only 10 places on offer, this is unlikely to be a box-ticking exercise.
The first cohort gives some idea of the range Rosewood wants. The 2026 class brought together 11 women from eight countries at Rosewood Hong Kong. The group included chefs, sommeliers, founders and other hospitality professionals.
Among them was Lelani Lewis, a chef, food stylist and culinary activist. Her verdict was wonderfully free of management jargon.
“Rise to the Table put fire in my belly and inspired me, something that had been lacking before I attended the program.”
That line says plenty.
Why this matters for hospitality
Good leadership schemes should do more than fill notebooks. They should leave people with better judgement, stronger contacts and the nerve to use both.
Rosewood is also making a wider business point. Its Foundation is using the hotel group’s own people, knowledge and network as part of the program. That is useful in an industry facing a long-term labour squeeze.
WTTC has forecast that travel and tourism could face a global shortage of more than 43 million workers by 2035. Hospitality alone could be short by 8.6 million workers.
The numbers make talent development more than a worthy cause. It is becoming a commercial need.
Hotels can recruit for next month. Strong companies also need to build leaders for the next decade.
Rise to the Table will not fix the gender gap on its own. Ten places are still only 10 places. But the format has substance. It gives participants a global setting, senior mentors, practical coaching and a full year to keep the conversation moving.
That matters because careers rarely change after one speech. They change when skill, confidence, access and opportunity arrive together.
For women in hospitality who meet the criteria, London in March 2027 may be one of those moments.
Applications for Rise to the Table 2027 close on 28 October 2026.
Apply for Rise to the Table 2027
Rosewood’s official Rise to the Table information
By: Prae Lee – © 2026.
Read Time: 5 minutes.
Author Bio:
You can tell a great deal about a person by how they meet a Bangkok morning. Prae Lee doesn’t charge into it; she glides, unhurried, as if time itself has agreed to behave. She carries a calm assurance, the sort earned by knowing both your roots and your destination.
A graduate of Chulalongkorn University, she took her business degree with quiet pride, then polished it further in Singapore and Australia. Travel didn’t change her. It refined what was already there: curiosity, discipline, grace.
Back in Bangkok, she slipped modern life into the family business, mastering social media with an instinct for listening and selling with Thai gentleness.
Prae never seeks attention, yet everything she touches grows brighter.
Now with Global Travel Media, she writes with authenticity, drawing on culture, travel and a rare, steady confidence.
