Orient-Express Hotels will re-badge its hotels and experiences under a new Belmond brand.
Encompassing the majority of the company’s hotels, trains, safaris and river cruises, the new name will be rolled out from 10 March 2014, and supported by a US$15 million marketing campaign and a new website.
The company’s president & chief executive officer, John M. Scott, said the new name offers a “fresh opportunity to tell our story”.
“We are excited that we are entering the next chapter in our journey with a name that celebrates our character, resonates with our guests and encompasses the broad scope of our celebrated collection of hotels, river cruises and trains,” said Scott.
“Each of our iconic and one-of-a-kind luxury experiences evokes strong customer loyalty and we are extremely proud of the heritage that makes us unique,” he added.
Under the rebranding process, the ‘Belmond’ name will prefix most of the company’s portfolio, so for example, the Napasai resort in Koh Samui will be renamed the ‘Belmond Napasai’, and the Road to Mandalay river cruise in Myanmar will be named the ‘Belmond Road to Mandalay’.
There will be some exceptions, however. The Hotel Ritz in Madrid will not be renamed, nor will the company’s main European and Asian trains – the Venice Simplon-Orient Express, and the Eastern & Oriental Express. This is due to the strength of the existing brand names.
The company said the name ‘Belmond’ was chosen because it “resonates well with our guests and that encompasses the global collection of unique experiences we are today”.
Following the initial US$5m promotional push in the first year, an additional US$10m will be invested subsequent years.
Established over 30 years ago with the acquisition of Hotel Cipriani in Venice, Orient-Express Hotels now includes a portfolio of 45 hotel, rail and river cruise experiences across the world.
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