Australia's best tourism visionaries named

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This was published 8 years ago

Australia's best tourism visionaries named

Qualia at Hamilton Island.

Qualia at Hamilton Island.

IAN JOHNSTONE

MARIA ISLAND WALK

When Ian Johnstone established the Maria Island Walk in 2003, the former civil engineer had no experience in tourism. The business operated from his Hobart home, and he'd chosen an island known for many things –convicts, wildlife, unusual geology – but not walking.

The Maria Island Walk to Bishop and Clerk, Tasmania.

The Maria Island Walk to Bishop and Clerk, Tasmania.

"My heart's always been in the outdoors, rather than building things," Johnstone says. "Other people had looked at Maria, but nobody really had the guts to give it a go because of the island factor – it costs much more to operate, but the fact it's an island is also part of its charm."

Today, the Maria Island Walk employs about 30 guides, has won a swag of national tourism awards and leads hundreds of walkers from toe to tip of the island every summer.

Johnstone was one of the first Australian outdoor operators to recognise the umbilical link between activity and appetite, taking much of what he'd seen of luxury safaris while working in Africa and distilling it into an Australian walking experience.

James and Hayley Baillie from Bailee Lodges.

James and Hayley Baillie from Bailee Lodges.

He hired chefs among his guides, and quality local produce and wine became as much a feature of his walk as any of the island's beaches or views.

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Johnstone's tourism influence has stretched far beyond Maria Island's shores. He was a driving force behind the creation of Great Walks of Tasmania, a collection of the state's guided-walk companies, and subsequently a founding member of Great Walks of Australia.

He's mentored fledgling tourism businesses and has recently made a submission to build five private huts along Tasmania's South Coast Track, with the intention of creating a similar experience to the Maria Island Walk.

Ian and Bronwyn Johnstone, Maria Island Walk owners.

Ian and Bronwyn Johnstone, Maria Island Walk owners.

"I haven't got any huge dreams to become the biggest and richest person in the pond," he says. "It's just really rewarding when you're doing something you believe in, showcasing all the things that are special to Tassie and helping a lot of young kids get a career in guiding."

mariaislandwalk.com.au

Andrew Bain

Sandy, Bob and Ian Oatley on Hamilton Island.

Sandy, Bob and Ian Oatley on Hamilton Island.

THE OATLEYS

​HAMILTON ISLAND

What does a winemaker know about tropical hideaways? Quite a lot, it turns out – at least, if Hamilton Island is anything to go by. Australia's best-known tropical playground was originally launched by developer Keith Williams, but it has cemented its position at the top of the holiday hit list thanks to its current owners, the Oatley family.

Will Deague.

Will Deague.

The Oatleys bought the island in 2004, flush with cash from selling their Rosemount Wines to SouthCorp for $1.5 billion. Where other men might have been winding down towards retirement, Robert Oatley decided to reinvent himself as a resort owner. In the process, he and his family turned a slightly dated resort into one of the country's premier holiday destinations.

The Oatleys' plans extended beyond just applying a new lick of paint to every wall. Identifying the luxury sector as a high-growth area, they added attractions designed to appeal to high spenders. As well as a glamorous yacht club, they introduced two high-end accommodation options: the self-catering waterfront villas and the five-star qualia resort, which has hosted the likes of Leonardo di Caprio, Miranda Kerr and Oprah Winfrey.

That was just the warm-up. On nearby Dent Island, they built an 18-hole championship golf course designed by Peter Thomson. There is more in store, too, with a new hotel planned for Dent Island, and another for Hamilton Island.

Alla Wolf-Tasker of 'Lake House' in Daylesford.

Alla Wolf-Tasker of 'Lake House' in Daylesford.

However, the Oatleys have been careful not to alienate their existing clientele. They have retained plenty of family-friendly accommodation options, and have ensured that fully two-thirds of the island remains undeveloped, preserving its leafy appeal.

The Oatleys have backed their vision in the most genuine way possible: with their own money. In just over a decade, their investment has topped half a billion dollars. From where we sit, it is definitely money well spent.

hamiltonisland.com.au

Ute Junker

THE BAILLIES

​BAILLIE LODGES

It takes a lot of nerve to tell royalty what to do, but that's the kind of moxie that Hayley and James Baillie possess. When everyone's favourite royal couple, Kate and William, stayed at the Baillies' Uluru tented camp, Longitude 131, on their recent tour, their photogenic bub, Prince George, was nowhere to be seen. The camp, you see, does not welcome children under 10.

The Baillies are undisputed masters of their domain, running some of Australia's most respected luxury lodges: retreats so inviting that even royalty is happy to follow the rules. While each of their properties offers uber-luxury in a spectacular setting, each one also has its own distinct character. Their first property, Capella Lodge, brought five-star beach chic to Lord Howe Island. For their second venture, they chose a vastly different island location: the storm-tossed south coast of Kangaroo Island. Some thought it a courageous move, but the glamorous Southern Ocean Lodge has gone on to become one of the country's most acclaimed properties.

Following their recent purchase of Longitude 131, the Baillies immediately set about updating it for a more discerning clientele. Each tent now has a verandah with a fire pit, perfect for enjoying sundowners. Two premium tents with plunge pools have also been added.

In the industry, the Baillies are known for their attention to detail. Every fabric is tactile, every staff member offers a genuinely warm welcome, every meal showcases the best regional produce. As much as the surroundings encourage cocooning, however, what the Baillies really want is for you to get out and explore Australia's most memorable landscapes. To this end, each lodge offers a compelling roster of activities. At Longitude 131, for instance, that includes an early morning chopper flight to admire sunrise over Uluru and Kata Tjuta, before landing atop Mount Conner for a celebratory glass of bubbles. We'll drink to that.

baillielodges.com.au

Ute Junker

DAVID SEARGEANT

QT HOTELS

A hotel with a red-wigged concierge dubbed the Director of Chaos, a barber specialising in cutthroat shaves, bespoke furniture and digital art is not everyone's cup of tea but QT Sydney, the flagship hotel in the State Theatre and Gowings department store opened in 2012, has struck a chord with guests wanting to move from the orderly beige of the big hotels in Australia. The man behind the brand is David Seargeant, the group managing director of Amalgamated Holdings, the third-largest owner and operator of hotels in Australia that includes Rydges Hotels, the design-driven value brand Atura Hotels, and QT Hotels & Resorts. Sydney-based Seargeant, who started his career in the budget Commodore Hotels chain, is taking his vision across the ditch with the next QT set to open in 2016 as the 163-room Museum Art Hotel in Wellington, New Zealand.We're betting there will be very little beige. See www.qthotels.com.au.

Jane Reddy

THE DEAGUES

HOTEL GROUP

The Art Series Hotels hit our streets with a crash of colour when The Cullen opened in Prahran, in inner-city Melbourne, in 2009. Owned by the Deague family – Melbourne property developers, art collectors and philanthropists – the group now has seven hotels, each a collaboration with an Australian artist.

Need to know the backstory to the piece hanging in your room? Grab a staff member. Any staff member. All staff receive an art education, and there's also a curator on hand to walk you through the art on the walls, from the desert hues of Indigenous artist Yannima Pirkarli Tommy Watson at The Watson, in Walkerville, Adelaide to Mark Schaller's make-it-today attitude in the Schaller Studio in Bendigo, central Victoria.

In 2001, David Deague led a group of artists into the desert scenery of South Australia's Lake Eyre in a bold move to revive Australian landscape painting. Steering a path between the standard big-hotel offerings and no-frills budget digs, his son Will is now the CEO of the group, and cites the renewal of the historic Gramercy Park Hotel by Ian Schrager with artist Julian Schnab as a key inspiration for artist-led hotels, and adds his admiration for Kit Kemp's design work in the Firmdale hotels in London and New York.

In good news for art hotel lovers, the group will open its first Brisbane hotel, The Johnson, in Spring Hill in the middle of next year. It is inspired by abstract artist Michael Johnson, with a swimming pool designed by Olympian Michael Klim. The next cab off the rank is its fourth Melbourne property, Whitehorse Towers in Box Hill, in the city's east. It's the ninth in the company's aim to have 10 hotels under its fashion-forward belt by 2017.

Rooftop yoga, Etsy tie-ins, designer prams and electric cars or staff rating guests' behaviour: Will Deague says we should expect the big ideas to keep coming, including a focus on health and fitness. See artserieshotels.com.au.

Belinda Jackson

ALLA WOLF-TASKER, AM

LAKE HOUSE

The vision was to create a destination restaurant in what was, in 1979, a sleepy little country town called Daylesford, 144 kilometres from Melbourne. The reality was a blackberry-infested swamp littered with car wrecks. Juggling baby Larissa, Alla Wolf-Tasker and her husband Alan cleared the land, planted 2.4 hectares of gardens, and opened a small country restaurant called Lake House in 1984.

The local council issued a permit only after warning them they would go broke. Daylesford was stagnating; unemployment was rife, and farmers were suffering. Alla's rustic but refined cooking soon won countless awards and pulled a well-heeled set of diners out of Melbourne. Slight problem: there was nowhere for them to stay. With an eye to emulating the European boutique hotels she loved, Wolf-Tasker built nine luxurious bedrooms within the grounds of Lake House, and there was no looking back.

The ripple effect of that tale of passion, drive, inspiration and bloody hard work is that 30 years on, there are an estimated 5000 beds in the now booming Daylesford-Macedon region. But Lake House is still the epitome of sophisticated, regional cuisine, fine service and high comfort; so much so, it was named one of Tatler's Best 101 Hotels in the World in 2015.

Wolf-Tasker baked her own bread, made her own charcuterie and established her own kitchen gardens long before such fundamental things became ubiquitous. From day one, she concentrated on local, seasonal ingredients, encouraging local food producers to share their produce and develop their own small-scale businesses, founding the Daylesford Macedon Produce association in 2001 to link growers, producers, chefs and retailers in a true local food system. In so doing, says Penny Rafferty of Luxury Lodges of Australia, "She has contributed significantly to the economic survival and prosperity of the entire Daylesford region." It is this pioneering spirit and "people, produce, place" philosophy that is now driving the growth of regional cuisine throughout Australia.

Lake House, 4 King Street, Daylesford 03 5348 3329 see lakehouse.com.au

Jill Dupleix

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