Lvmh and Accor together for the new Orient Express adventure

On 13 June 2024, the French group Lvmh, which controls almost two-thirds of the global luxury market, and Accor, one of the biggest in international hospitality, signed a strategic partnership to jointly relaunch Orient-Express. This is great news for the iconic brand that has been a symbol of refined and daring adventures since it was born in 1883, because of its elegance, the lifestyle it expresses, and its historical and literary value (who has not at least heard of Agatha Christie's detective story?).

Founded by James B. Sherwood in 1976, until ten years ago, Orient Express was a hotel group with five-star luxury hotels in the most beautiful places in the world (from the Cipriani in Venice to Cap Juluca in the Caribbean), boats on the world's most poetic rivers (such as the Irrawady in Myanmar and the canals of Burgundy) and some historic trains in Europe, including the legendary Venice-Simplon Orient-Express, still in service between Venice and Paris. In 2014, the licence for the use of the name expired, owned by the French Railways, which proposed to renew it for an astronomical sum. From there, the dilemma: pay to keep a brand that is imprinted in the collective imagination or change it and start again? The decision, though painful and uncertain, certainly courageous, was to change. But what name could simultaneously evoke that special mix of retro elegance and modernity, the art of travel, and the founder's values? The choice was difficult and time-consuming, right down to the current, convincing Belmond. Convincing enough to charm a disenchanted expert like Bernard Arnault, chairman and ceo of Lvmh, who invested over three billion euros in 2018 to buy the company. Today there are 36 Belmond hotels (including the four not yet announced or opened) with ever-renovated properties such as the Maroma on the Riviera Maya and new entries such as the stunning Romazzino on the Costa Smeralda. And they have kept the Venice-Simplon Orient Express with its original 1920s and 1930s carriages, new itineraries (with stops also in Florence and Portofino) and, in 2025, a carriage designed by French street-artist JR. In a short time, Belmond has raised standards, positioning its hotels in the Olympus of international hospitality. The background of a luxury group that spans every sphere of lifestyle, from fashion to cosmetics, from champagne to hospitality, can be felt and distinguished in style, taste and service.

Meanwhile, what happened to the brand that had been orphaned for some time? In 2022, rights for use were acquired by Accor, which thus inherited the responsibility of a myth to be kept alive, renewed and growing. A great responsibility, albeit one that can be tackled by one of the world's most important hotel groups, with an extraordinary train 'cruise' project named after La Dolce Vita, from 2025 in Italy and in the future also outside. Orient Express is a story in itself, with a very strong identity, for which a change of ownership and culture could be dangerous, with the risk of aping an icon. The first projects of the new Orient Express - a hotel in Rome and one in Venice and two sailing ships - are ambitious. The choice of Giampaolo Ottazzi as hotel manager is reassuring. Having joined Orient Express at a very young age and left Belmond as a mature general manager, he will know how to interpret a brand he has grown up with.

Now, the collaboration between Lvmh and Accor heralds a new chapter in the brand's history. First and foremost, it is an authoritative return: who better than Lvmh, owner of Belmond, the Venice-Simplon Orient Express and five other historic trains, to help protect and relaunch the brand? On the other hand, Accor, the current owner of Orient Express, brings with it almost 60 years of experience in the hotel business, with over 5,600 hotels in 110 countries and top brands such as Raffles, founded in Singapore in 1987 with new monuments in London and, from 8 July, in Jaipur in India. To maintain a legend, the only way is to join forces. And it will start with the world's largest sailing ship, currently under construction in the Chantiers de l'Atlantique, which will set sail in 2026 for the first Orient Express cruise. Then it will proceed with trains and hotels. A beautiful adventure