As the world looks to ‘travel better’, travellers may look to Luxury Lodges of Australia for compelling and inspiring experiences that also have positive impact on the people, the environment, and the communities in which they operate.
The 19 luxury lodge members are each located in regional destinations and are the epitome of being ‘naturally isolated’. A collection-wide commitment to using local produce and suppliers offers guests a real connection to the people of the place, while also providing essential economic support to local businesses and the broader community.
Luxury Lodges of Australia has collated a powerful online resource from across its collection of high-end lodges and camps to make it easy for travellers to find experiences that offer ‘travel with purpose’.
The Business with Purpose webpage offers an easy overview of the sustainability initiatives at each of the lodges, and spans the diverse elements of what constitutes sustainable travel and business.
Linking from the introduction for each lodge is a more in-depth downloadable PDF which details both the legacy activities at the lodges, as well as the mandatories increasingly expected by guests such as focus on minimising plastics, energy, water and waste.
The new online resource meets a growing demand among consumers both here and overseas for a more sustainable way to travel, and for the rewarding sentiments that come from the knowledge that one’s travel has made a positive impact on the local communities and regional economies of the destination.
Impactful guest experiences range from Citizen Science activities like planting native plants to regenerate the bushfire-affected Blue Mountains wilderness at Emirates One&Only Wolgan Valley to Aboriginal artists-in-residence programs at Longitude 131 at Uluru Kata Tjuta where guests enjoy a rare opportunity to meet visiting artists from the Ernabella Arts community in the APY Lands and learn about their culture, while proceeds from art sales return wholly to the community.
Luxury Lodges of Australia Executive Officer Penny Rafferty said the online resource was proving a hit with consumers planning their travel itineraries as well as with trade and media.
“Over the past 18 months we’ve really seen an escalation in people actively seeking out more sustainable and more thoughtful ways to travel,” Ms Rafferty said. “It is as if this past year of pandemic has triggered a mass re-evaluation of what people value in travel, and in life.”
“The lodges’ sustainability initiatives are as diverse as the lodges and destinations themselves and offer a chance for guests to have a more meaningful experience on holidays and make a real and positive contribution to the ongoing wellbeing of the place and its people.”
“It is a no-brainer in a way. These activities protect they very thing that drives demand for the lodges, the stunning natural environments, the wildlife, the food, the cultural experiences.”
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