BUSINESS PROFILE
Arnaud Champenois, Belmond
Arnaud Champenois’s work used to take him around the world, but he’s now based in London crafting Belmond’s brand story, which includes a portfolio of stunning hotels, trains, river cruises and safari camps. Here, he discusses the company’s LGBTQ advisory board, joining the luxury goods group LVMH and predicts what 2020’ s travel trends will be.
What attracted you to accept your role at Belmond?
I started my career within luxury products at Cartier in 1998, then I worked at L’Oréal and moved into the travel sector with the Starwood Hotel group when I was in Asia. The chance to join Belmond came almost four years ago and the opportunity to define the brand and its direction through storytelling and creativity really excited me. We have since then become part of the LVMH group, which is a world- class family of luxury brands and are extremely excited about this new development.
What is so special about Belmond?
We’re really a travel brand: we don’t only have hotels, we also offer incredible experiences such as luxury train journeys, safaris and river cruises that help our guests disconnect from every- day life and to reconnect to what matters most — nature, culture and well- being. That makes us different to the competition. The experiences we offer are unique and authentic.
What are the most valuable lessons you have learned in your 20 years of branding and marketing?
You always need to be extremely guestcentric and think about what your guests really want and how you can create content and storytelling that’s going to be engaging enough to bring them back to you again and again.
In 2016, Belmond created its own LGBTQ advisory board. Tell us a bit about that.
The board is made up of a mix of travel professionals, experts, journalists and influencers. The owner of Attitude, Darren Styles, is one of the board members. We have always been committed to creating environments where diversity is highly valued
Words Markus Bidaux and we want everybody to feel included in everything we do, in everything we say and the people we employ. We’re trying to be dynamic and responsive so we thought it was important for us to hear from the experts.
What pearls of wisdom have you learnt from the advisory board that have been particularly beneficial?
To make sure that we don’t forget to personalise the experiences for our guests. An example would be the amenities in the room. We need to know how many children there are, to have two pairs of male or two pairs of female flip flops, or slippers, if that’s what’s necessary. And it’s always good to have people representing the LGBTQ community to advise us on what we should look out for.
You’ve got an LGBTQ Venice Simplon- OrientExpress trip coming up, haven’t you?
That’s in November, between the 7th and 9th, and the idea came from the advisory board. The Venice Simplon- Orient- Express is an incredible, glamorous train from the golden age of travel so we thought it would be perfect for our LGBTQ guests. We will start the trip in Venice with a stay at Belmond Hotel Cipriani and travel to the train station by boat. On the sleeper train, there will be a giant party with DJs and special guests.
Belmond have hotels and experiences all over the world and some of those places don’t have the best LGBTQ rights and laws. How do you create a safe space in those countries?
We always try to create environments which feel like home for our guests, no matter which country that’s in — a home that respects and values all kinds of diversity.
Has being gay ever affected you in the workplace or have you ever had to hide your sexuality when working overseas?
No, I never hide my sexuality and I’m very proud of being gay. It’s a personal journey but, at the same time, I have a role to play and I’m very happy if I can inspire and help other people to be out in our work environment.
What do you think will be the biggest travel trend of 2020?
Wellness travel is a big trend but we wanted to go beyond that and have responded by creating our Good Living campaign. We are happy to be able to offer experiences which are mindful but also fun. At Belmond we do yoga, but we also drink champagne. We have been working with our experience makers to curate exceptional experiences for our guests, such as a botanical weekend at Belmond Reid’s Palace, in Madeira, with celebrity florist Simon Lycett who talks about how botanicals and flowers can affect our well- being. There is also a self- care retreat with wellness pioneers Nadia Narain and Katia Narain Phillips, at Belmond Cap Juluca, in the Caribbean.
How have customers’ expectations changed in the past 10 years?
The guests are much more informed now. And Instagram is the new Lonely Planet, it’s where they get a lot of information about locations, restaurants and bars. So with all the peer- to- peer networks and websites, such as Trip Advisor, our guests have a knowledge which is absolutely incredible about the destinations they are travelling to and therefore they are much more demanding. The big challenge for us is to up our game and still be the experts.
What is new for Belmond in 2020?
Last year, we opened Belmond Cap Juluca in Anguilla and Belmond Cadogan Hotel in London. We have exciting projects in store this year and will definitely be sharing the news in due course. We will be relaunching Belmond Splendido Mare. It’s like a charming guest- house with 14 rooms. We’re working with French architects and it will reopen in the summer.
What advice do you have for anyone wanting to go into the hospitality business?
It’s about the human touch, connecting with people and local communities. If there is one field where you need to be open- minded, it’s travel and hospitality. You need to be curious and open to all sorts of cultures and values.
“We try to create an environment like home, a home that respects and values diversity”