When you think of travel opulence, hitting lights out at 8:30 p.m. in a Wi-Fi dead zone isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. But after listening to migrating humpback whales singing while swimming alongside giant loggerhead turtles, you get the kind of out-of-body relaxation that even an unlimited champagne fridge can’t quite hit.
Now that the ability to escape is becoming the most premium experience of all, ultra-luxury travel is all about offering experiences of awe and a feeling of peace. As a result, this might truly be my country’s moment to shine, I thought, as I pulled on my mask this past July to head off snorkeling at Lady Elliot Island. The tiny land patch is surrounded by coral in a pristine green zone on the southern tip of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, a short light-plane ride off the east coast.
For years it seemed to me as an Australian in the U.S., people would typically know the Sydney Opera House, the classic scene with the knife in "Crocodile Dundee," the menu at Outback Steakhouse, and maybe, just maybe, Kylie Minogue. Outside of that, knowledge could be sketchy. Brisbane, it’s north of Sydney, I used to say, hopefully, about my hometown to those a little less aware of the geography of my homeland. (It is about 570 miles north of Sydney, by road.)
But in recent years, our wide brown land seems to have had a PR reboot. Thank Jacob Elordi on the moors, or thank Kylie’s 2025 world tour — or it could even be the flood of investment into high-end hotels (hi, Capella Sydney!) and supercharged international spending power. Whatever the cause, the luxury travel offerings in the great southern land have entered a whole new level.
Now, with the U.S. National Football League’s first-ever regular-season game in Australia being played at the famed Melbourne Cricket Ground this week — and growing attention on Brisbane as the host city for the Summer Olympics six years away — there is a firm international spotlight on the country. Local travel and hospitality are likely to reap the rewards.
“Luxury in Australia has evolved significantly,” said Alicia Triggs, executive general manager at Journey Beyond.
Her company has just completed a $42 million investment in its Reefworld, a permanent pontoon on Hardy Reef among the Whitsunday Islands on the Great Barrier Reef. The location includes overnight suites that are four meters below the waterline with floor-to-ceiling glass looking directly onto the reef.
“The focus has shifted increasingly towards extraordinary experiences and emotional connection," Triggs said. "People are seeking stories they can tell, places that inspire them and moments that create lasting memories.”
Australia’s evolution is not lost on me. Each time I’ve been home over the last decade, I’ve noticed a change. There are more restaurants that wouldn’t feel out of place in London or New York and hotel offerings that feel elevated, but still uniquely Australian. No longer are we looking to Europe and the U.S. for the ultimate take on what really constitutes a luxury experience.
But on my first trip out to the reef in years to Lady Elliot Island, where accommodation is basic solar-powered lodges and phones are largely unusable, I saw how in-step Australia is with the luxury consumer of today. With a cap of 150 overnight guests on the island at any time and a careful waste management system to minimize impact on the delicate surroundings, this is snorkeling and diving with a light footprint. The island is one of only a handful of places along the entire 1,400-mile-long reef where you can snorkel straight off a beach, rather than needing a boat. It is home to 1,200 species of marine life, according to the eco resort, and — by the resort’s telling — one of the world’s best sites for manta ray encounters. On my trip, the visibility was exceptional, like looking through glass at coral, starfish, and schools of fish dipping in and out of turtles who are so bored by humans they let you glide alongside them.
“Australia has become far more confident in its own identity, but in the past there was a tendency to look overseas for cues about what luxury should be,” said Catherine Malouf, whose family owns and developed the now-iconic The Calile Hotel in Brisbane’s New Farm.
The hotel is famed as the country’s first “urban resort” and has hosted the likes of the Clooneys and Hemsworths. It first hit The World’s 50 Best Hotels list in 2023 — where it has appeared every year since (most recently making the extended list for 2026). The inspiration for the hotel was not an international standard of luxury, but something that felt very real to its Australian surroundings.
“When I go to an Aman hotel they are so luxe, [but] I feel sometimes I have to whisper in the restaurant and you have to behave," Malouf said. "It’s kind of nice to come to an environment where there’s a personality at play here, and the personality is very authentically Australian.”
Malouf, whose hotel is named after her great-grandfather, Calile, developed and oversees the property with her two brothers. Its centerpiece is a deep green swimming pool, like so many of our subtropical properties, and is marked by naturally ventilated open-air corridors. It feels part-Miami, part-Greece, but still very Brisbane.
“Increasingly, the strongest Australian hotels and experiences are doing the opposite of the traditional ideal, drawing confidence from our people, climate, landscape, architecture, produce, and way of living,” she said.
Since the pandemic, international visitor numbers at The Calile have steadily increased, as the hotel has become a known destination in its own right. And right now, work is underway on a second location on a nearly six-acre bushland site at Noosa, on the Sunshine Coast. Slated for a 2029 opening, the hotel will feature a 50-meter swimming pool, a separate quiet pool, and a day spa and bathhouse featuring multiple plunge pools of different temperatures, alongside the rooms, suites, and villas.
“I really believe that Noosa will change the game as far as our international traveler,” she said. “If you’re coming from such a long way away, you want to tick off a few places on your itinerary.”
There is no doubt Australia is experiencing something of a boom of people coming to our shores — a remarkable turnaround after the nation shut its borders for just over two years during the pandemic. Short-term visitor arrivals to Australia rose 8% to 9.1 million in the year ending June 2026, per the Australian Bureau of Statistics — the fifth straight annual increase.
Those travelers will be spoiled for choice when it comes to high-end stays: Some 30% of new hotel rooms under construction in Australia are outside the city centers, according to Colliers.
Consider Marriott International’s plan to open Emirates Wolgan Valley, a Ritz-Carlton Lodge — the first-ever property under that banner anywhere in the world — in the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Greater Blue Mountains, just outside Sydney, in partnership with Emirates. It is slated to open later this year. Next year, the nation’s first-ever Waldorf Astoria is set to open at Sydney’s Circular Quay. Meanwhile, Hilton’s LXR Hotels & Resorts brand is due to make its Australian debut in 2027 with its renovation of the former Palazzo Versace at the Gold Coast, south of Brisbane. The Mondrian opened its first Australian location nearby at Burleigh Heads last year.
In Melbourne's The Carter Building, COMO Hotels and Resorts — which has 19 hotels, resorts, and private islands worldwide — is planning to open its second Australian property, after Perth’s COMO The Treasury, on St. Kilda Road in early 2028, while the Four Seasons is planning a second Australian location in Melbourne in the coming years.
All those offerings might come in handy too, as more global events hit Australian shores. When the Los Angeles Rams play the San Francisco 49ers this week in Melbourne, it is expected to be the start of a multiyear commitment and not a one-off.
“For many American fans, the NFL International Melbourne Game may be their first reason to travel to Australia — our job is to give them a reason to stay longer, and a reason to come back,” said Ed Horne, the Chief Operating Officer at On Location, the official hospitality partner for the NFL.
The company, which also worked with the World Cup in the U.S. to provide premium ticket options like its $1 million pitch-side seating, is leaning into the Australian vibe. They are offering guests the opportunity to explore Melbourne and surrounding areas during their stay. This includes watching the “Penguin Parade” on Phillip Island, going wine tasting in Victoria’s premier wine region, and seeing native Australian wildlife at the Healesville Sanctuary in the Yarra Valley.
“I think it’s an opportunity that will continue to develop as Australia hosts more global, bucket-list sporting events,” Horne said.
Increasingly, the clients willing to spend up on a trip to Australia are wanting to channel money away from the typical high-end hotel, U.S.-based travel advisors told me.
“It’s not about a velvet rope sort of experience ... it’s more about the access,” said Samantha Collum, the director of operations for River Oaks Travel in Houston and who specializes in Australia trips. “There’s a lot of focus now on ... opportunities to interact with indigenous people, and get a sense of their history, their stories, how they’ve been caretakers of the land.”
Bookings are focused on Uluru, Kangaroo Island (known as Australia’s Galápagos), and Lord Howe Island, off the coast of New South Wales, she told me. It is worth noting the throughline for anyone mapping these trips: The most-wanted stays are also the smallest — 150 guests on Lady Elliot, 40 lodges at Wolgan Valley — which makes booking far ahead less a luxury than a requirement.
“Australia’s sense of space is incredibly appealing, especially in a world that feels increasingly crowded and fast-paced,” Journey Beyond’s Triggs said. “Travelers want experiences they simply can’t find elsewhere in the world.”
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