In mid-March, executives from Belmond, a luxury hotel and leisure company under the French luxury conglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, completed their first market exchange trip to China.
At the first stop of their trip in China, Nicolas Streff, Vice President of Global Strategy and Corporate Communications at Belmond, engaged in an exclusive dialogue with Luxeplace.com to discuss Belmond’s unique positioning, prospects in the Chinese market, and preferences of Chinese consumers.
Nicolas Streff prioritised “Slow Luxury” and “Slow Travel” as Belmond’s primary objectives. He stated, “Our urgent task is not simply to increase the company’s value and excitement by expanding and adding more properties like many other brands. We are not in a race; we simply want to ensure that each of our new properties is in the right location. For Belmond, our properties could be a hotel or a train.”
Belmond launched the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express (A Belmond Train, Europe) in 1982, pioneering slow travel. Belmond offers a diverse portfolio of hotels, trains, river cruises, and lodges, creating unique experiences.
At the end of 2023, Belmond announced its development plans for 2024, covering dimensions such as slow travel, property expansion, and contemporary culture.
Belmond will introduce new itineraries, suites and experiences on its six trains and seven river cruises. For example, the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express will for the first time offer a new journey between Paris and the iconic destination of Portofino, Italy. The Eastern & Oriental Express (A Belmond Train, Southeast Asia) will make a grand return in February 2024, introducing seasonal sightseeing routes between Singapore and Malaysia: the Malaysian Cultural Essence Tour and the Malaysian Nature Adventure. Belmond has also teamed up with Veuve Clicquot, an LVMH brand, to launch the “Solaire Journey”, offering travellers champagne (see below).
In terms of property expansion, Belmond has acquired and renovated properties such as Hacienda Katanchel in Italy and Mexico and the Romazzino, A Belmond Hotel, Costa Smeralda, among others.
Speaking about Belmond’s properties around the world, Nicolas Streff said: “We are by definition quite unique in the market because each property isn’t like a hard brand.
Each Belmond property is deeply rooted in the local culture of its destination, with respect for its unique identity as a primary strategy. In 2024, several Belmond hotels will celebrate milestone anniversaries and the brand will continue its global brand campaign ‘Belmond Legends’, showcasing its 14 iconic properties through contemporary photography series by renowned artists.
Nicolas Streff also mentioned the desire to expand into other markets. Most of Belmond’s customers come from the UK and the US, followed by Italy, France, other European countries and Brazil. He revealed that business growth in the UK and US has slowed: “We need to be more resilient, we need more engines and one of them is certainly China as we see the rise of the middle class. The main objective is to establish visibility and credibility in the Chinese market“. Nicolas Streff and Luxeplace.com discussed the challenges of connecting with Chinese consumers and more.
“We have so many stories to tell, which is an interesting step for us,” said Nicolas Streff, and how to make Chinese consumers understand these stories and resonate with them is Belmond’s next challenge.
This year, Belmond launched its official WeChat public account, from the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, inspired by Agatha Christie’s “Murder on the Orient Express,” to hotels frequented by celebrities like Princess Diana and George Clooney, Belmond’s legendary stories will gradually become known to more Chinese consumers.
Belmond also plans to launch an official WeChat mini-program for booking, to provide convenient and quick reservation services and enhance the overseas travel experience.
On 19 March, Belmond held a media briefing in Beijing at Galleria Continua to announce the latest progress of the MITICO art experience.
The third season of the MITICO art experience series, a collaboration between Belmond and Galleria Continua, will feature six works by internationally renowned contemporary artist Daniel Buren at six Belmond hotels, including the Copacabana Palace in Rio de Janeiro and Mount Nelson, A Belmond Hotel, in Cape Town.
“We see ourselves as curators and publishers of contemporary culture,” said Nicolas Streff at the meeting. Contemporary culture is an important part of Belmond’s transformation plan for 2024.
The MITICO art experience series was launched in 2022, with the first season inviting four outstanding artists to exhibit their work in the gardens of several Italian hotels.
Note: Galleria Continua was founded in 1990 by Mario Cristiani, Lorenzo Fiaschi, and Maurizio Rigillo in the famous medieval town of San Gimignano in Tuscany, Italy, dedicated to continuing contemporary art amidst landscapes filled with ancient art traces. In 2004, Galleria Continua entered China, starting to showcase contemporary art works in Beijing.
In 2023, the project expanded to Belmond properties in Italy, Spain, the UK, and Brazil, with works by Chinese artists Sun Yuan and Peng Yu, “Teenager & Teenager”, exhibited at the Belmond Villa San Michele in Florence.
At the event, Sun Yuan and Peng Yu shared the creative inspiration and expression of “Teenager & Teenager.” This series of surreal sculptures uses humorous and sinister artistic language to outline the contours of modern society: characters sitting on sofas and armchairs, their heads replaced by huge stones.
Artist Peng Yu (first from the left), Sun Yuan (second from the left), Galleria Continua Director Peng Yongyi (second from the right), Nicolas Streff (first from the right)
Last year, the Luxeplace.com team visited the Villa San Michele to experience the true meaning of “Teenager & Teenager”, where these sculptures coexist with the solemnity of Renaissance architecture in the hotel’s entrance portico, corridors, and reception rooms, “exploring the relationship between individuals and their living environment, especially technology.”
| Image Credit: Provided by Belmond, On-site photography by Luxeplace.com
| Editor: Maier
