Eastern & Oriental Express Becomes 'Tiger Express' In Bangkok To Singapore Trip For Tigers

The six-day, five-night ‘Tiger Express’ – a special trip organised aboard Belmond’s luxury train, the Eastern & Oriental Express – will pass through the tiger’s traditional habitat as it travels from Bangkok to Singapore and help to raise awareness about endangered big cats.

LVMH + Sustainability

Reporting on the LVMH acquisition of Belmond Hotels last December, we rather tongue-in-cheek wondered if Bernard Arnault will now save the elephants. Conservation and sustainability priorities are increasingly a high priority for younger customers. Within this context, it seems that saving elephants and other big game is a perfect initiative for the LVMH group, as they expand their luxury hotel business. Bernard Arnault himself has noted the luxury consumers move towards experiences and not more possessions.

On September 7 of this year, hotel and leisure company Belmond and its Eastern & Oriental Express will embark on a luxurious six-day, five-night train trip from Bangkok to Singapore. Called the ‘Tiger Express’, the excursion has teamed up with the global tiger conservation charity initiative, ‘Save Wild Tigers, to “raise awareness about the plight of the world’s last remaining wild tigers, writes Friday’s The South China Morning Post.

Three nights during the six-day train journey will be spent on board Belmond’s luxurious ‘Tiger Express’.

The endangered big cats could be extinct within a decade, writes ‘Tiger Express’

The landing page of Save Wild Tigers features the trip. 20% of the ticket price will be donated to Save Wild Tigers, and guests will enjoy the company of each other, artists, and unnamed ambassadors from Save Wild Tigers.

Only 3,800 tigers remain in the wild worldwide, with as few as 400 in Thailand and Malaysia, Belmond says. If numbers continue to decline at their current rate, wild tigers will be extinct within the decade.

“With potentially as few as 10 years left to save this iconic species from extinction, the clock really is ticking,” says Simon Clinton, founder of Save Wild Tigers. This is not the first collaboration between Belmond and Save Wild Tigers. They first teamed up in 2014 to launch the ‘Tiger Express’.

Prices start from £3,724 (US$4,865) per person, based on two people sharing a twin cabin, which includes all meals, one night’s accommodation each at Siam Bangkok and Raffles Singapore, and three nights on board the train, plus the two excursions and transfers to and from the train. Read more information about the trip and bookings at Belmond.com.


Bernared Arnault’s Wealth Is Growing At An Astonishing Rate

Bernard Arnault recently became the richest person in Europe – overtaking Warren Buffett to become the third-richest person in the world, after Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, according to the latest Bloomberg Billionaires Index, published on March 6, 2019. Bloomberg estimates Arnault’s wealth at $83.1 billion, making him the richest person in the fashion industry.

In January 2019, Bernard Arnault made US$4.3 billion in a single day after LVMH shares surged 6.9 per cent.

Arnault is getting richer at an astonishing rate, writes The South China Morning Post in a March review of the Frenchman’s finances. In January 2019, Bernard Arnault made US$4.3 billion in a single day after LVMH shares surged 6.9 per cent. Between the end of January and February 27, he added another US$3.9 billion to his fortune.

Arnault has built LVMH into a triumphant capitalist success story, while described by the press as “ruthless,” “able to exploit,” “famously litigious,” and “a wolf in cashmere clothing.” 

To address these headlines, Antoine Arnault, Bernard Arnault’s son from his first marriage, assumed additional new LVMH responsibilities in June, 2018 as head of the group's image and communication strategy. According to Bloomberg, Arnault “stressed the importance of the role, saying his son will be in charge of managing the ‘growing attention’ in the company from the media and public, and pointing to social media as an area of particular focus.”

LVMH's awareness of the "growing attention from the media, observers, public authorities, as well as the general public,” and specifically, the "increased exposure" – coupled with a different vision of corporate responsibilities among Arnault’s five children — suggests that the group recognizes the need to craft its reputation more carefully than it has in the past

Within this context, it seems that saving tigers, elephants and other big game is a perfect initiative for the LVMH group, as they expand their luxury hotel business. Bernard Arnault himself has noted that luxury consumers are moving towards experiences and not more possessions. .