BEL

Belmond Ltd.

A luxury hospitality company behind an elegant collection of landmark hotels, river cruises, and safari lodges — including the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express and Rio's Copacabana Palace. It began in 1976 when American entrepreneur James Sherwood bought the Hotel Cipriani in Venice, then revived vintage rail cars into the famous Orient Express trains. Its name, adopted in 2014, comes from the French for "beautiful world," a nod to the far-flung destinations it serves.