Karryon sat down with Luxury Lodges of Australia Executive Chair Penny Rafferty to discuss the collection’s 15th anniversary, the momentum it has gathered, and how it’s going to evolve to meet the ever-changing luxury traveller.
Luxury Lodges of Australia started with a collection of 15 lodges, and while a decade and a half later it’s sitting at 20, Rafferty says the goal was never to focus on numbers.
“It was never about growth in numbers. It’s about being true to what defines Australian luxury experiences.
“There are many other luxury properties in Australia, but we have defined our niche, and because of the work to raise Australia’s profile for experiential travel, I would hope the other luxury products benefit from that.”
But she says that doesn’t mean they aren’t looking at “filling gaps on the map”.
“I hope there’s continued investment in gaps on the map, and I think that the role lodges play in protecting the landscapes they are in will become more important.
“If there was another Bullo River Station or Mt Mulligan Lodge in a region not covered, and it has a compelling region for visitors to come and do something and they deliver the range of experiences, then we would add to the collection.”
Experiential offering key to success
She says it’s the engagement with environment, culture and community – and the resulting experiential offerings – that are the key differentiation factor for Luxury Lodges of Australia, and that’s an area she’d like to see growth in.
“I would like to see more engagement in things like the conservation walks in Arkaba, or marine research on Lizard Island, because as nature in its purest form becomes rare, that will become more important to the luxury traveller.
“This is what excites and engages our guests and brings them closer to that distinctively Australian sense of place delivered by the lodges.
“The evolution of the Lake House Daylesford is a great example of this. It started as a restaurant, then accommodation, functions, spa and wellness and more recently, they have developed Dairy Flat Lodge & Farm, leaning even more strongly into the trend of provenance and regenerative farming.
“Provenance and ‘good food matters’ have always been at the heart of Lake House, and that’s something people are looking for; they want to connect with the source.”
An Australian love affair
Rafferty says the Luxury Lodges of Australia properties strongly appeal to a local market.
“Australians are great travellers and it’s part of our roots, and at a time when a lot of places are overcrowded this means there’s been a gentle reflection back to our own backyard and the natural isolation and landscapes and how large and diverse we are.”
She says when they launched Luxury Lodges of Australia 15 years ago, they were seeing about 80 per cent domestic travellers to its properties on average, and that is now still sitting around 60 per cent.
“They’re not all high-spend luxury travellers. Many are aspirational, or travelling for special celebrations.
“Often, when I am at a lodge, I invariably run into Australians who want to tick off all the lodges. It’s like a bucket list of places they want to go for life’s special moments.”
Nature and cultural engagement key to the future
“There’s a growing awareness for wellbeing, and not just wellness through bricks and mortar,” Rafferty explains.
“It’s about the connection with nature – that personalised narrative from an expert guide somewhere you are not ducking and weaving the crowds.
“It’s the sense of rarity of access in its purest kind that is a really critical part of the luxury piece.”
But she says, as well as that, the luxury traveller is increasingly sensitive to buying local.
“Things like buying R.M. Williams boots at the showroom in South Australia and going to the biodynamic farm where you can see the ingredients grown that go into Jurlique, or buying pottery you’ve seen at The Lake House directly from the ceramicist who lives down the road – buying local and respecting skill and handcrafted items will become more and more valued.”
“The role art plays at a lodge is also so important. Hayley Baillie from Baillie Lodges is a great proponent of this. She developed a partnership for Longitude 131 with Ernabella Indigenous Arts Centre in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY Lands). Guests at Longitude 131° see and buy the art at the lodge and can meet the artists in artist-in-residence programs.
“As a result, Longitude 131 has contributed more than one million dollars to Ernabella Arts Inc and the community across the duration of the decade-long partnership.”
Rafferty says it’s that halo effect a single lodge can have that is the true epitome of Luxury Lodges of Australia’s greatest achievement and what it hopes to build on in the future.
“It’s about making something that can feed the vibrancy of a remote region economically and culturally. That’s the true definition of sustainability.”
For more information, visit Luxury Lodges of Australia.
