About us
History & membership
In 2010, a number of Australia’s leading independent high-end tourism property owners formed Luxury Lodges of Australia. It is a member-owned marketing association, created to promote the uniquely Australian breed of luxury experiential lodges both domestically and internationally.
Ranging from wilderness lodges to vineyard retreats and dining destinations; island hideaways to luxe outback camps; each of the properties demonstrate high levels of innovation and are created and operated to be the ‘best’ in sharing their unique region in Australia with all guests.
Luxury Lodges of Australia was formed following a meeting in late 2009 when Jim Carreker, then owner of The Louise, invited several of the owners of the country’s top lodge properties to discuss the potential for collectively marketing a diverse and uniquely Australian luxury hospitality portfolio.
Following the initial discussions and a follow-up formative review, these owners chose the structure of a member-owned, not-for-profit Australian corporation to carry out the marketing mission of the association. In January 2010, a constitution for the association was filed and the founding eleven member properties executed membership agreements and jointly funded the first several years of operations. Shorty thereafter, an additional four lodges joined the membership, through to today with nineteen member properties.
The association works closely with Tourism Australia, each of the Australian state tourism organizations, key tourism media, inbound tourism operators, travel specialists and others in promoting Australia as a luxury tourism destination.
Our luxury is deeply connected to exclusivity of access to Australia’s extraordinary locations, experiences and people. These are places that express Australia’s natural diversity, culture, character and way of life.
The lodges are all about delivering a sense of place and connecting guests to their region. It is not about how similar the lodges are, but how different, and how they reflect the diversity and authenticity of the Australian experience.
Hand in hand with this goes the protection of the environments and communities the lodges operate in. Purpose is core to the DNA of the lodges, be it wildlife conservation, landscape protection and regeneration, community collaboration and engagement and much more. Each lodge has a legacy story for guests to engage with as they wish.
The members anticipate a small number of like-minded Australian luxury property owners may join as future members, although there is no timeline nor imperative to grow the size of the association. Future property inclusions will uphold the general characteristics of small, generally independently owned, well-managed lodge properties offering key luxury standards in infrastructure, service, food and wine offering and critically, unforgettable experiences in Australia’s most inspiring and extraordinary locations.
An application, inspection and approval process is required to be undertaken prior to becoming a member of Luxury Lodges of Australia. Submit an initial enquiry
OUR LITTLE WHITE BOOK
The Luxury Lodges of Australia brochure has become a treasured and widely recognisable ‘go to’ for Australian experiential luxury, enjoyed both online and in printed form at our lodges. The brochure is available to view or download in eight languages below.