Board & management

Penny Rafferty heads up the marketing and operations for Luxury Lodges of Australia, reporting to the board.  Penny has been Executive Officer of Luxury Lodges of Australia since formation in January 2010. Prior to this, she served as general manager of The Louise, Barossa Valley for four years, leading this fifteen-suite property to international acclaim as one of Australia’s new luxury lodge culinary tourism destinations.  Previously she was general manager of Chateau Tanunda in the Barossa and part of the launch team and sponsorship manager for the See Australia domestic tourism initiative (later incorporated into Tourism Australia).  Earlier in her career she led the startup marketing and development team for the performing arts festival and centre at Spier Wine Estate in Stellenbosch South Africa; was marketing director for an arts publishing company in London; and in the corporate development team of The Australian Opera (now Opera Australia).

Alla Wolf-Tasker has 40 years experience in the tourism and hospitality sector. She is co-proprietor/Managing Director of Lake House – Australia’s most highly awarded Gourmet Retreat  incorporating a Hotel, flagship restaurant, award winning spa, award winning cellar, event centre and cooking school. She is a long term participant on industry boards, committees and think tanks and currently serves as a director on the Board of Tourism Victoria and on their Risk and Audit (Governance) committee. Alla is also a long term lobbyist with successive governments &  tourism ministers (both federal and state) on behalf of the industry – with an emphasis  especially on regional impact in terms of growth and economic development. Personal awards include “Lifetime Achievement Award“ from RCA; Legend awards from Melbourne Food and Wine Festival and Age Good Food Guide;  Admitted as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for services to the hospitality and tourism industries.

Craig is Chief Operating Officer of Baillie Lodges, having joined the group in August 2017. His career has spanned working in luxury lodges, city hotels, remote resorts and even flash-packers, both on-site and in head offices, in operational and project management roles, and as a board member of numerous tourism businesses and associations. This broad background and experience has lead Craig to become a very-rounded tourism executive, with an extensive understanding of day-to-day hotel operations, human resources management, sales, marketing and distribution, as well as looking ahead and setting strategy for long-term sustainable business growth. In the past two years, Craig has led the Baillie Lodges team through the acquisition and integration of four additional luxury lodges into their portfolio. Craig holds a Bachelor of Hospitality from Western Sydney University, and is currently a Director of Baillie Lodges Pty Ltd and a number of other tourism and hospitality based companies.

Karina Barry, along with her husband Brian, founded Bells at Killcare and Pretty Beach House 15 years ago on the Bouddi Peninsula in NSW. Pretty Beach House has been a member of Luxury Lodges of Australia since 2012. Karina is a 5th generation hotelier and grew up in her parents’ hotels, working from an unconventional age in most aspects of the business; she trained at the Regent of Sydney in front of house management roles and then as a chef with The Savoy Hotel group in London. In 1989 she returned to Sydney as part of the opening brigade at Rockpool and then joined her family in opening the Hunter Resort in the Hunter Valley as General Manager. In 2007 after 16 years in the Hunter, Karina and her husband took a leap of faith and moved to Killcare to open their own business.

Michael is the General Manager Sales & Marketing qualia and Hamilton Island. An accomplished commercial and marketing leader with a diverse background gained in advertising, media and corporate environments, Michael has been recognised as one of Australia’s TOP20 marketers with a proven history of guiding local, national and global brands to grow their market share. Michael has an extensive background in the travel and leisure, media, and advertising industries. He has held roles including Group Executive Global Marketing at Tourism and Events Queensland (TEQ), where he led a large team responsible for driving visitor demand and growth for Queensland. Prior to TEQ, Michael held brand, digital, and marketing executive leadership positions at Suncorp, Nine Entertainment Co., and marketing agencies including Sapient, cummins&partners and Clemenger BBDO. Michael is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and Advisory Board Centre.

John has over 25 years’ experience in the tourism & travel, sport & entertainment and media industries, having held senior executive roles with Football Federation Australia (Chief Commercial Officer), Events Queensland (Chief Executive Officer), Fox Sports (Chief Operating Officer). Prior to joining Experience Co (Wild Bush Luxury – Arkaba & Bamurru Plains), John was Managing Director of Tourism Australia where he managed a team of more than 200 staff in 75 locations, including Shanghai, London, Los Angeles and Mumbai, and oversaw a period of record growth of international visitation and expenditure to Australia. John has extensive leadership capabilities and experience in sales and marketing, strategic planning, event management and digital technology. John is a Board Member of Tourism Tropical North Queensland and Netball Australia. He holds an Executive MBA and is a Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD).