The great relaunch of Orient-Express

Who remembers the Orient-Express? Perhaps no one, except the most faithful readers of Agatha Christie, for whom the elegant carriages of the most legendary train in Europe have become, through the filter of literature, the exotic setting of a murder. But there is a reason why Agatha Christie, in the distant 1930s, chose that particular train for her novel. Simply put, the Orient-Express represented, along with the Nile cruise, the non plus ultra in terms of luxury travel, a five-star hotel on wheels. In a world where fashion as we know it did not exist, where imported cigarettes and champagne were goods of the highest luxury, traveling on the Orient-Express represented the international gold standard of well-being and aspirationality. "The Orient Express has embodied adventure and elegance since its origins," said Bernard Arnault, speaking about LVMH's new business development in the world of hospitality. "Its name has become part of our cultural heritage and remains a source of inspiration for the greatest artists." A world of liveried waiters, chilled champagne, sleeping cars in gleaming mahogany. A world that seems distant from ours, made of international flights, exotic locations reached in a maximum of one day of travel, online bookings, and user reviews. And if once the typical modern journey represented an aspiration, the massification of that experience has led to a loss of exclusivity to which the luxury industry has responded by looking to the past and, specifically, to trains.

The most famous luxury train in the world is the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express owned by Belmond, itself part of LVMH. Another The Orient Express is instead owned by Accor, a railway company that has recently entered into a partnership with LVMH. Two years ago, the Belmond train hosted a large group of mega-influencers (Chiara Ferragni had anticipated them by visiting the train in October) who celebrated the inauguration of the Grand Tour itinerary by traveling from Rome to Paris for one night, the protagonist of countless IG Stories and related reposts while the Italian press, through the usual flurry of articles, paled at the thought of the astronomical ticket price of 4000 euros. A few days later, on May 15, the train headed to Cannes for the first time, loaded with other influencers, for the festival, introducing, among other things, a Dior-branded pop-up spa. In 2021, Belmond collaborated with Wes Anderson on the redesign of the Cygnus carriage of the British Pullman train, inviting a company of celebrities and fashion personalities for the inaugural journey. But now the locomotives are accelerating: LVMH announced yesterday a significant investment in the Orient Express brand, with plans to introduce more trains, cruise ships, and hotels. The luxury titan's new commitment is underlined by the partnership with Accor SA, whose exact financial details, including the extent of LVMH's participation, remain undisclosed. However, the partnership signifies a commitment to revitalize and expand the Orient Express experience in various areas. LVMH has invested in the complete package: not only trains, therefore, but also future hotels and trains, as well as two new cruise ships. The first ship is currently under construction at Chantiers de l'Atlantique in France, and both groups are actively seeking a third partner to join this ambitious project.

The interest of the luxury world towards rails and locomotives is not accidental - especially considering how the Belmond trains have been in operation for years and years, even before the lockdown. But it was precisely the lockdown that shed light on such an expensive and outdated mode of travel: the new emphasis on experiential tourism, the possibility of creating a tourism network that includes transportation and hotels in a single widespread entity, as well as the crisis of national airlines (in addition to the case of the Italian ones, the French and Austrian ones have also faced numerous problems) and growing concerns about sustainability have made rail travel relevant again. The road ahead is still long, but the general opinion of the public seems clear: according to the The New York Times, already in 2022, "62% of Europeans support a ban on short-haul flights" intended to encourage people to travel more by train. LVMH's collaboration with Accor aims to rejuvenate this historic travel icon, combining the unique expertise of both groups. LVMH will leverage the experience gained from operating the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express and other luxury trains through Belmond, acquired by LVMH in 2018 for 2.6 billion dollars, whose portfolio also includes the aforementioned British Pullman, the Royal Scotsman, the Eastern & Oriental Express in Singapore and Malaysia, and the Andean Explorer and the Hiram Bingham in South America. Accor, which manages 45 hotel brands in more than 110 countries with over 5,600 properties, will leverage the partnership to deepen its luxury and lifestyle offerings. The company's luxury division includes prestigious names such as Raffles, Fairmont, and Potel & Chabot, which have rejuvenated the customer experience with a focus on excellence and distinctiveness.

The partnership promises to produce innovative projects in trains, hotels, and cruise ships, establishing a new, more seamless type of experience in the world of luxury travel. The revival of the historic Orient Express train and the launch of the first Orient Express cruise ship in 2026, as well as the brand's first hotels opening in Rome and Venice, aim to create five-star and on-the-move travel experiences. Not everything is rosy, though: in 2021, Accor and the Italian Arsenale had announced together with Trenitalia the train The Orient Express La Dolce Vita, which was supposed to be ready in 2023 but is now set to debut on April 4, 2025. Meanwhile, LVMH's entry, certainly eager to expand its business in the travel sector, and thus beyond a fashion business that is starting to falter, may have contributed to the delay. If this "unified" travel experience tries to change the classic travel format by offering both greater variety and a tailor-made travel experience. Speaking of these luxury trains, at the time of their announcement, it was read in the The New York Times: "in the past, travel was about packing in as much as you can, running around checking boxes, which becomes mechanical. The pandemic taught us all that it’s OK to not go fast, to focus on what’s important." And so, here comes the return of train travel which, in the case of luxury trains, can also transform the annoying and uncomfortable process of travel into entertainment.

Indeed, much has been said about how, over the past few years, luxury has acquired a more experiential dimension. The acme of sophistication and elitism is no longer the baroque suite overlooking the city from the top of the 100th floor, but the resort in the savannah where you have breakfast with giraffes, the Instagram-friendly tiled riad, the glass-floored stilts looking into the pristine waters of Polynesia, and the hidden cove in the rainforests of Thailand. With this in mind, given also how air travel often forces various inconveniences such as long waits at the airport, forced proximity to crowds, and compliance with numerous safety regulations, it is understandable how, for certain routes, the idea of traveling comfortably in a train that looks like something out of a Visconti film, plus all the romantic vibes resulting from nostalgia for the world of the Belle Epoque, perhaps even with the option of indulging in a spa stay or having a cocktail in a 1930s dining car, can seduce luxury travelers. In May last year, the WSJ headlined an article with Air Travel Is Back, Including All the Things You Hated, explaining that «fares are rising, middle seats are no longer empty and everything from parking lots to security lines is getting more congested». The renewed need for space, a rejection of commercial tourism routes, and a sense of impatience with large crowds born of the post-pandemic have led to a resurgence in the popularity of trains.

The trend that would seem to emerge from this scenario is that of a slow re-orientation toward the rejection of the "masses." Just as the exit from lockdown has brought to public attention the concept of agoraphobia, used not so much to describe a chronic anxious state but the widespread distrust the public perceives toward enclosed and overcrowded places, the concept of travel has also begun to evolve by taking on a dimension that is increasingly distant from the masses and increasingly close to the individual experience: according to an Airbnb report from last year, there had been a robust movement of tourist flows toward rural locations, toward homes that became the destination of travel and not just a place to stay, and toward a cancellation of the barrier between traveling and living. The resurgence of trains, then, represents just that: transforming the means of transportation into a destination - with all the attendant ins and outs and, above all, with the possibility for the luxury industry to offer new and more exclusive experiences to its clientele. Nothing more is needed to demonstrate the strength of the train trend - we just have to get on board.