Sydney has no shortage of industry dinners, but every now and then, one feels less like an event and more like a reunion. The first Best of the Best gathering for 2026 fell squarely into that category.
Held at Ace Hotel on 5 February, the evening brought together around 70 of the country’s most engaged luxury advisors, with a smattering of interstate regulars making the trip north. The format was familiar supplier updates threaded through a proper three-course dinner and wines, but the atmosphere leaned more collegial than commercial.
Which, in truth, is exactly how this collective has always operated.
Best of the Best was never built to be a roadshow. Fourteen years ago, it began the way many enduring travel trade collaborations do: a handful of industry operators realising they were all knocking on the same doors, often within the same weeks, chasing the same advisors. Instead of competing more aggressively, they compared notes and decided to pool their efforts.
The result has been a quietly durable alliance, part showcase, part friendship circle that has outlasted countless more formal initiatives.
Five of the original group still anchor the line-up today: Brenda Nash (The Legian Seminyak), Jonica Paramor (COMO Hotels and Resorts), Lynne Ireland (Inspired Luxury), Thushara Liyanarachchi (Taj Hotels) and Tony Knox (Anthony Knox & Associates). In more recent years, the addition of cruise partners Anastasia Kotanidis (Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection) and Jen Pagett (Uniworld) has broadened the mix without diluting the tone.
And tone matters here. There’s an ease to Best of the Best gatherings that’s hard to manufacture a sense that everyone in the room knows why they’re there and doesn’t need convincing.
The Sydney dinner reflected that rhythm. Less pitch, more conversation. Less theatre, more substance.
That said, there was no shortage of news.
Tony Knox opened with a brisk sweep across Europe’s upper tier, including the ongoing reinvention of Baglioni under its new ownership and continued expansion from Oetker Hotels. Monaco also surfaced again, with Société des Bains de Mer continuing to double down on its hospitality footprint, a reminder that the Principality never really stands still.
COMO’s update leaned into reinvention rather than expansion. The reopening of COMO Le Beauvallon in Saint-Tropez drew quiet interest, not least because heritage restorations tend to resonate strongly with Australian advisors. Bangkok’s COMO Metropolitan refresh also earned nods, though it was the ongoing evolution of COMO Shambhala Estate that sparked the most table-side chatter. Wellness may be a well-worn word, but at the sharper end of the market, it continues to deepen rather than fade.
Lynne Ireland’s Inspired Luxury segment touched on Melia’s steady global growth, including the reopening of Paradisus Bali, a perennial favourite for the Australian market, alongside continued momentum from Virgin Limited Edition. The takeaway was less about individual properties and more about trajectory: luxury all-inclusive is no longer niche, and the Australians are leaning in.
Bali, unsurprisingly, surfaced again via Brenda Nash, with updates from The Legian Seminyak landing well among advisors who’ve long sold the property as a dependable luxury mainstay. A refreshed lounge concept and suite revamp suggest evolution rather than reinvention, a smart play in a market where familiarity often drives repeat bookings.
Cruise updates were among the more forward-looking moments of the night. Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection continues to build its narrative carefully, with Asia deployments now underway and Alaska looming on the horizon. French Polynesia itineraries launching later this year are likely to resonate locally, particularly given Australia’s enduring appetite for that region.
Uniworld, meanwhile, is leaning into its 50-year milestone with a mix of celebratory offers and future-facing fleet news. The debut of S.S. Emilie this year and additional Super Ships scheduled for the future signal a brand that is still investing heavily in product at a time when river cruise demand remains resilient.
Thushara Liyanarachchi rounded out proceedings with Taj’s characteristically layered update, part expansion, part philosophy. New openings across Bhutan and Africa point to a continued tilt toward nature-led luxury, while the brand’s continued global recognition reinforces its quiet consistency in a sector that often chases trends.
If there was a common thread through the evening’s updates, it was this: luxury travel is settling into a new maturity. Less about spectacle, more about depth. Heritage over hype. Experience over inventory.
That evolution mirrors the Best of the Best model itself.
Unlike larger showcases that chase scale, this collective has stayed deliberately compact. There’s a confidence in that restraint, a sense that relevance comes from relationships rather than reach. Advisors know the names; suppliers know the room; conversations pick up where they left off last year.
The 2026 calendar reflects that steady ambition. Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide are already locked in for the coming months, continuing the group’s measured national footprint. More intriguing, however, is the introduction of an ultra-luxury European famil later this year, designed to reward top-performing advisors across partner brands.
It’s a logical next step. For a network built on loyalty, shared experiences tend to cement ties far more effectively than presentations ever could.
As the evening wound down at Ace Hotel, there was no grand finale, just the familiar hum of an industry comfortable in its own company. Advisors lingering over last pours, suppliers swapping notes, the occasional promise to reconnect at ATE or ILTM.
Not flashy. Not forced. Just quietly effective.
And if the Sydney opener is any indication, Best of the Best isn’t trying to reinvent itself in 2026. It doesn’t need to. The formula still works, and in a sector that’s constantly chasing the next big thing, there’s something reassuring about that.
by Jill Walsh – (c) 2026.
Read Time: 6 minutes.
About the Writer.
Jill Walsh has always kept a pen close and a suitcase closer. She started out on media releases, then learned the trade properly by escorting press trips around the world, discovering which stories travel well and which need a sharper edit.
Before long, she wasn’t just promoting destinations, she was representing them, translating civic ambition and local pride into words people actually wanted to read. These days, semi-retired and happily so, Jill has traded departure boards for deadlines, joining old friend and colleague Stephen at Global Travel Media on a casual basis.
Her patch is the business end of wanderlust: balance sheets, route maps, tender wins and the numbers that quietly decide where travellers go. She writes with dry humour, clean prose and an old-school respect for facts a steady voice when the market starts shouting.
