Editor’s Note: Connecting the Dots is a series of monthly conversations with Michael Dominguez, President and CEO of Associated Luxury Hotels International. The series examines issues in the global economy that will “connect the dots” to be helpful not only in business but in life as well.
Michael Dominguez: The geopolitical situation around the world is the No. 1 issue of CEOs in all surveys that we're seeing whether it is the CEO surveys that we look at or whether it's Fortune Magazine, they're all saying the same thing. The world is very uneasy right now. There is a lot of change that is going on, and we don't know what that all means to relationships, to trade partnerships, and most importantly, to travel. What is that going to look like? When you look at global travel specifically, there are already changes going on. I'm about to go to the UK on my first trip in 2025, and there's a new visa process that I have to apply for. It's simple, it's online, but you have to be aware of that. The EU has a new visa process that will be coming into play. We just don't have a firm date yet. All of these pieces are coming in, which makes it a little bit more important for all of us to be aware and to be aware of the changes that are happening. We talked about it last year at length, and I don't think we paid enough attention that 60 % of the world GDP was going to have an election in 2024. Forty countries had an election in 2024.
Why does that matter? Think about every Western democracy, specifically in Europe, has a new administration, has a new thought process, including here in the United States. This is going to change trade partners, this will change alliances, this will change how we look at the world. We don't know what it all means, but when we talk about connecting the dots, we know it's important and this is something we're paying attention to. We're going to learn a lot more. It is moving very, very quickly. We all know as we're here in 2025, the new administration is moving very quickly. There's a lot for us to stay on top of. But with all that said, I can tell you I am very much optimistic about what's going to happen in the future, what the world will look like. I am hoping that these conflicts that are going on around the globe that have been very tragic to human life will continue to subside. We hope to find resolution there. We've already had a peace deal in Israel, which is a good thing, and we hope to soon to have a resolution around Ukraine and Russia. These are the things going around the globe, and as they settle, will change and let us know what the roadmap is going to look like. We promise to continue in Connecting the Dots to come back to this and tell you what we are seeing, what the world looks like. So, these geopolitical updates will be constant throughout the year to tell you tell us what we're learning. My one advice to all people though is, let's take a deep breath, let's not try to get ahead of our skis, let's understand exactly what this all means, and that's going to take time. That is not tomorrow, that is not next week, it will be months and candidly by mid-year we’ll have a little bit of an understanding of what this means to the world order. Remain calm, let's be at peace, and most importantly, let's be alert to figure out what's going on.