As global travel continues to rebound, luxury travel specialist Southern Crossings has reported a marked rise in demand for travel to Australia and New Zealand from ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) travellers, particularly from the US and the UK, who are driving a shift away from ostentatious luxury toward deeply personalised, exclusive experiences.
In a recent conversation, Southern Crossings Australia Director Paul Groves-Berry told LATTE that the company was seeing positive interest from parts of Europe like France, Germany and Scandinavia, but that two key markets are leading the charge. “UK and US would definitely be the two biggest ones for that ultra-high interest,” he said.
These elite travellers are increasingly seeking meaningful, bespoke experiences rather than traditional symbols of luxury. “Within the industry generally, there continues to be a little bit of a drift away from gold taps and marble bathtubs,” he explained. “We’re really laser focused on elevating the experience that we’re offering to our guests… around the personal touch.”
This involves creating experiences that are specifically designed to the individual needs of each client – for example a non-alcoholic cocktail-making session complete with foraging for local ingredients at Manly Spirit Co in Sydney for non-drinking clients who still enjoy the craft cocktail scene.
“The feedback was just amazing,” Groves-Berry said. “It wasn’t just about turning up and having a glass of champagne waiting but more, understanding that’s not what they were looking for and creating something special around that.”
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These ultra-premium travellers are also gravitating toward properties that offer a tier above luxury – spaces that combine seclusion with one-of-a-kind service.
“We’re seeing a real growth towards people looking for that ultra-high level of experience,” he said, highlighting the Baillie Pavilion at Southern Ocean Lodge, the Daintree Pavilion at Silky Oaks and the House at Lizard Island as among the popular options.
That level of accommodation is invariably the hardest to book due to strong demand, but Groves-Berry Is encouraged by a surge of boutique luxury newcomers, specifically referencing properties like Capella Sydney and the recently rebuilt Southern Ocean Lodge.
Southern Crossings is also working closely with high-end travel networks like Virtuoso and Serandipians by Traveller Made to strengthen relationships and enter new markets. “Over the last couple of years, we’ve received some pretty amazing recognition, particularly in the Virtuoso network, in terms of some internationally recognised awards last year,” Groves-Berry shared. The company also hosted a Virtuoso famil in the run-up to last year’s World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) event in Perth.
Another famil, held in October, took a group of Serandipians advisors around Australia. “We’ve had some pretty good traction out of that and we’re seeing some good year-on-year growth with that particular network,” he said. “The good thing about that is that’s a network that has a bigger footprint in Europe and the UK than it does in the US so it’s spreading that focus a little bit, which is good.”
While demand is strong, upheaval around the world is impacting the way that people are choosing to travel, according to Groves-Berry. “We are seeing a reversion back to shorter lead time inquiries,” he noted. “There’s a bit of tension between that uncertainty and people still having in the back of their minds – remember that time when we couldn’t go where we wanted to go?”
Still, he is confident in Southern Crossings’ ability to respond to this shift. “We have a great team in place, and great systems in place, and great partnerships,” he stressed. “We can really put good things together without much lead time.”
With a combined staff of nearly 60 across Australia and New Zealand, a new office is also on the horizon, with Groves-Berry indicating a move would take place in the “next couple of months”. A further book collaboration with Gourmet Traveller is also on the cards with food increasingly central to the company’s storytelling, and previous releases under the partnership having proven successful. “It’s so pleasing to have three really incredible books that tell great stories through food,” he said. “One of the top pieces of feedback we receive is that guests knew that the food was going to be good here, but they just had no concept of the level that it’s at.”
Meanwhile, a recent strategic pivot towards Fiji is paying off, he revealed. “Previously, we had always specialised in New Zealand and Australia, and then a sort of generic South Pacific,” he said. “But in the end, we decided to really focus on Fiji.”
“It links into the fact that we really specialise and help international visitors to have really seamless experiences when they’re coming to Australia, New Zealand or Fiji, or any combination of those. That’s really what we specialise in.”
