In Conversation with… Belmond’s Samantha Strawford on the changing nature of luxury travel and experiences

As luxury travel group Belmond gradually reopens its properties and train services across the world, we caught up with Brand Communications Director (Global) Samantha Strawford on how the group is adapting its luxury experiences in this “new normal” world of social distancing…

The Covid-19 crisis and global lockdown has given many companies the opportunity to pause and reflect. Has there been any changes at Belmond from a brand perspective? 

From a brand and marketing perspective, we have never been busier because the way we communicate and what we are communicating has continuously evolved. We’ve had to completely recalibrate and be both sensitive and responsive to the ever-evolving situation and customer mindset.

We have also had to be really agile and creative throughout this time. There was the initial lockdown period where people couldn’t travel at all and everything was pause. 

It was during that time when we created the Belmond Invitations series and brought Belmond to people at home so we could stay connected to our guests. It was really well received, and it meant that at the same time as reaching our regular guests, we could reach out to people who don’t normally have access to Belmond. It helped us reach new audiences through the power of social media. In fact we saw our social channels grow significantly during that time, which gave us confidence that we were putting the right content out there for people to tune into.

We are definitely going to keep the Good Living and Belmond Invitations content going online, even when we move back to some sort of normality. It’s a great way to help people stay connected to the brand and provide some inspiration and connectivity. 

Has the pandemic has impacted what customers want from Belmond? 

A likely outcome of the pandemic is that people are likely to travel less but travel better. I think that’s a recalibration that was needed in travel. It’s about making meaningful decisions, going somewhere you really care about, and travelling with a brand that you trust and feel connected to.

All of us have been guilty of travelling in a bit of a cavalier fashion, with everything being so accessible. When it suddenly becomes inaccessible, you start to rethink what your desires and motivations are to get back to travel again. 

We have seen a lot of people coming back to their favourite places. When we announced the reopening of Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons for example, we had lots of bookings from people wanting to recreate memories. People seem to have this nostalgia for travel now. They want the simple things – to go somewhere they remember having the best food and best cold glass of wine, next to the most beautiful view. 

It’s the simple pleasures that are important to guests at the moment, combined with a desire to be somewhere which is surrounded by beauty and nature. We are finding that people really want to immerse themselves in nature at the moment, particularly those people who have lived in cities throughout lockdown – they want to get out there and back into nature. 

Another trend we are seeing is people looking for exclusive places. They want to go to Belmond, but they want to create their own universe within our walls. Families and groups who have put off milestone celebrations are trying to find somewhere they can gather again but within a trusted space and with a brand they have previously experienced.

We’ve had a lot of requests for private villas and our floating barges have seen a rise in interest too. They seem to be perfectly pitched to escapism, slow travel and exclusivity, because they are for 8-12 guests, so they are perfect for small groups and families. They are completely away from everything, with completely bespoke itineraries and they’re absolutely gorgeous. 

Would any of these work for the events and incentives market?

You could take a flotilla of the barges, so three or four barges together, as an incentive group. It could be a really unique experience to have four barges floating down the canals of Burgundy, doing private wine tastings and picnics in the gardens of grand châteaux. Some of our hotels, for example our Sicily properties – Villa Flora and Belmond Grand Hotel Timeo – are the perfect size for a group takeover. 

Belmond is renowned for creating unique, authentic and once in a lifetime travel experiences. How are you refining those experiences to make sure they work within new Covid-secure guidelines? 

We are focusing on a lot of outdoor experiences. We are lucky that we have got the outdoor space and pretty much all of our properties have beautiful gardens. So we are really making the most of those garden spaces and creating experiences such as luxury picnics or movies under the stars. 

We have a beautiful set up for dining under the stars in Tuscany – we have an enchanted table which is suspended between some ancient oak trees. It’s a heavenly location and they cover it with beautiful flowers and amazing food and drink. There is also an outdoor amphitheatre where they show movies under the stars. That property would also be perfect for exclusive takeover for incentive groups.

There is an experience we have just introduced in London at Belmond Cadogan. We now have exclusive access to Chelsea Physic Gardens outside of when they are open to the general public, so groups can have private tours and banquets in the gardens.

Many hotel brands turned to virtual content and experiences out of necessity during lockdown. Is there a place for luxury travel companies to continue to offer virtual experiences along-side real life ones?

The plan we have at the moment, is to take some of the content that the Good Living Experience Makers have created and make it more integrated into the consumer desk journey. 

So, when they book a destination, they receive our guest communications, and part of that would be playlists from Clemency Burton-Hill with music to listen to and inspire you about the destination. Then when they are on property, we plan to have some poetry within the menus, and we’d have in-room rituals and meditation from our Good Living Experience Makers Nadia and Katia Narain.  

We will continue with the Good Living  and Invitations series content online because people have really been enjoying that. It’s a way for us to generously share content and always stay connected. We have a few things in the pipeline, but it won’t be as regular as it was during lockdown because we don’t need to do it as regularly now. 

How do you get the right balance between communicating important Covid-related updates while continuing to inspire and engage customers?

There was a flurry of desire at the beginning of reopening from brands to share the Covid-secure and hygiene procedures they are putting in place. On a normal day, it’s a given we have strong hygiene measures in place, but now it can’t really be left unsaid, so we do have to share that.

But it’s not what people are drawn to with Belmond. They come for the magic. They want to know they are safe and secure, but it’s the magic they want, and they want to come and forget and escape from the ongoing pandemic. 

Our way of doing that is to create the experiences, but also to have a very personal approach to communication. Our General Managers have been in touch personally with our top guests so that they could welcome them back with a familiar voice rather than through a brand communication. And when guests arrive on property, they get a Belmond Care Package.

At the beginning of lockdown we created a digital care package, which was full of all our Good Living content, and now we’re providing the physical amenities, so things for their wellbeing when they are on property. 

Where are you at currently with reopening the properties and products in the portfolio?

In the UK, we opened Le Manoir first, then the Cadogan and the Pullman trains opened on 1 August. Italy is mostly open, and we are open in Mallorca and Madeira as well. We’ve found we have had to shift out marketing direction to domestic and local markets. In Italy for example, normally its heavily dominated by US guests throughout the summer season. But with travel restrictions still in place in many destinations, we have had to change focus so Italy for Italy, UK for UK, and US for US. But we are not starting to see some UK guests keen to visit Italy.

We are not open yet in South America or Africa, and in Asia we have a couple of properties open. It’s a daily watch and brief to see what is going to happen around the world and respond accordingly.

How quickly do you expect groups business to pick up again?

It’s difficult to know as things are different in each destination. But we did have a takeover in July from a luxury Italian brand, which is a positive sign. It’s a big-name brand, so hopefully when big name brands start doing that, then others will start to follow as it offers a level of reassurance. Across Italy, the desire to travel is  there. If that is an indication of how the rest of the world will respond out of this crisis, then hopefully it’s a positive one.