Today we’re going to turn the clock back to the 1800s to share with you the story of a young man, Georges Nagelmackers, who had just fallen out of love. 

Like some of us who might travel abroad to take a breather, Nagelmackers fled to the US, where he discovered railroads with the world’s first sleeping cars. 

The enterprising Belgian engineer decided to take that idea back to Europe, where he would launch luxurious trains leading to the Gates of the Orient. 

That’s right, we are talking about the Orient Express, or the luxurious train experience provider that would later be further popularised by a suspense novel by writer Agatha Christie in the early 1930s. 

Then called the CIWL (Compagnie Internationale des Wagon-Lits), or The International Sleeping Car company, Orient Express’ inaugural trip happened in October 1883 from Paris to Constantinople (or the modern day Istanbul), redefining the meaning of long distance travel for luxury travelers. 

As we know, the development of air travel has changed the way people move between places. That dealt a blow to CIWL, and eventually, the Orient Express made its last direct trip between Paris and Istanbul in 1977. 

That same year, the SNCF or the French National Railway Company acquired the Orient Express brand, and the last Orient-Express train left Vienna for Strasbourg in December 2009. 

But hope is not lost. Nearly 140 years after making its first trip, Accor Hotels fully bought over and redeveloped the brand in 2022, expanding the portfolio of Orient Express to include hotels and even yacht sailings. 

As for the original Orient Express carriages – they will be back on railway tracks in 2027, though details are still scant at the moment. So, what should we know about the Orient Express portfolio of hospitality solutions today, and what is next for the firm? 

In this episode of Under the Radar “SPECIALS”, Money Matters’ finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Gilda Perez-Alvarado, Group Chief Strategy Officer of Accor & CEO of Orient Express.