Is the World’s Smallest Continent About to Become Its Biggest Luxury Destination?

Set your sights on an Outback adventure this year: the growing luxury travel industry in Australia is going to get a boost thanks to luxury travel network Virtuoso and Tourism Australia, the continent’s official agency for attracting global visitors.

Virtuoso, a luxury travel network with 370 agencies and 9,800 advisors across the world, announced its partnership with Tourism Australia this past August, at Virtuoso Travel Week, a high-end travel products expo that took place at the Bellagio Resort & Casino. The partnership, through 2016, will include a marketing campaign and focus on both trade engagement and travel agent training.

Over the past few years, luxury travel to Australia has been growing steadily, especially in the US market. This year, Americans spent AU $2.95 billion on travel to Australia, up 14 percent from the previous year. The American market, which boasts more high net worth individuals than any other in the world, has yet-untapped potential for Tourism Australia.

To grow the connection between Australia and the US luxury market, Tourism Australia will enlist the help of Virtuoso, which generates sales of more than US $14 billion per year. Virtuoso’s travel advisors are experts in what makes Australia an incredibly beautiful and exciting destination, from its exotic wildlife to its no-worries attitude. In conjunction with the partnership, Virtuoso is re-launching its Aussie Specialist Program. This in-depth educational program will equip Virtuoso’s advisors with the expertise that they need to help clients create the perfect Australian luxury travel itinerary.

It’s no surprise to us that Australia is quickly becoming a hotspot for global luxury travel. The reasons for visiting Australia are many, and as varied as the landscape of the continent itself, as it offers the best of both luxurious sophistication and breathtaking, untamed wilderness.

Explore the booming restaurant scene in Sydney, which doesn’t shy away from gastronomic experimentation in some of the country’s finest dining establishments, relax in one of the coastline’s many luxury hotels, like the InterContinental Melbourne the Rialto, and get away from it all in the lap of luxury at one of Queensland’s island resorts. For rugged adventures, there’s no place better than Australia, from the wild mountainous region of Kimberley to sacred desert sites like the red sandstone monolith of Ulura.

If you plan to travel through Australia in the near future, don’t forget to book luxury chauffeur service with EmpireCLS.