Accor has unveiled a new worldwide loyalty and rewards program exclusively for travel agents called HERA, Accor Travel Advisor Program. This new program includes more brands, more features, and more capabilities as well as an enhanced digital experience with easy and efficient online tools for booking, tracking and reviewing activity.

Reservations will open for the highly-anticipated La Dolce Vita Orient Express next month, both via a reservations centre and later, online.

Accor says it will continue to “meticulously expand” the brands within its Luxury & Lifestyle division, to meet “accelerating demand” for high-end and culturally relevant travel experiences.

French shipbuilder Chantiers de l’Atlantique has taken its first letter of intent (LOI) to purchase its revolutionary sailing ship of the future from Accor, for Orient Express – an ultra-luxury hospitality brand within the group’s stable.

Accor has formalised changes to its organisation – which came into effect from 1 January 2023 – splitting the hospitality firm into two divisions: i) Premium, Midscale and Economy, and ii) Luxury and Lifestyle.

Pre-registrations for The Orient Express La Dolce Vita luxury rail journey through Italy have opened this week. Originally planned to debut in 2023, The Orient Express La Dolce Vita is now slated to launch in 2024. The brand-new, top-of-the-line rail experience will offer a new way to explore the jewels of Italy, from the Alps to the beaches of the south, and from Venice to Rome or Palermo.

Orient Express will open its second hotel in Italy at the exceptional Palazzo Donà Giovannelli in Venice

Luxury hospitality company Arsenale S.p.A. in partnership with Orient Express of Accor Group have used ILTM Cannes as a platform to confirm further details of the new Orient Express La Dolce Vita train, flagged in July by LATTE.

Accor’s ultra-luxury Orient Express hotel brand is adding Rome to its modest stable of properties. Following a complete renovation, Orient Express Rome will take the site of the Grand Hotel de la Minerve, just footsteps away from the Pantheon. The Orient Express Rome is one of five hotels “under negotiation” for the brand, with other 5-star projects earmarked for London, Paris, Milan and Florence. Accor has visions for the Orient Express brand, which it bought into in 2017, to reach ten properties by 2030.