Luxury Travel Summer 2024

I am thrilled that within these pages lies the 2023 Gold List Awards winners, fresh from our highly anticipated Winner Reveal Party, which took place on 29th November. This fabulous evening was a celebration of not only the industry’s best hotels, resorts, cruise lines and more, but also a culmination of many months of hard work by the team at Indesign Media Asia Pacific, who worked tirelessly to make this awards program a huge success. I’d like to personally thank them, and our esteemed jury of industry experts, who dedicated their time to determining a shortlist from the hundreds of entries we received, and brought admirable passion for this industry of ours to the process. And, of course, I’d like to thank you, our readers, for voting and supporting both…

Three weeks into my new role as editor of Luxury Travel, I ended up in the desert in 41-degree heat. To be more precise, I was walking up The Strip in Las Vegas for the first time, with its palpable (read: scorching) energy of excess. I was there for what has become known in recent years as ‘The Fashion Week of travel’ – Virtuoso Travel Week, where 5000 passionate travel industry professionals come together to meet, reconnect, socialise and gain insights into the luxury travel industry. I thought Vegas was a strange destination for this event, but I should have known better. Once I saw this gargantuan group of people together, it was crystal clear: big, energetic, electric Vegas could not be a more fitting destination for this passionate group…

UTE JUNKER Writer, editor and podcaster Ute Junker has covered luxury travel on all seven continents over more than two decades, but her first trip to Saudi Arabia was an eye-opener. “Luxury travel has long been about exploring new frontiers, whether that’s Bhutan or Rwanda, but travellers have never seen anything like what’s developing in Saudi,” says Ute. Read her feature on this mysterious destination on page 84. FIONA HARPER Fiona Harper is a travel writer and photographer, a qualified yacht skipper and the author of three boating guidebooks. Fiona likes to get offshore, offroad and off-grid. When not writing about travel she’s probably running a marathon, hiking a mountain or sailing into a tropical sunset, blissfully disconnected from deadlines. She’s rather partial to mountains and mojitos, islands and highlands.…

As a top destination for all kinds of travellers, Italy stands out as a special place that captivates the senses, leaving an indelible mark on all who venture there. Franco Parisi, managing director of Australian-based, family-owned bathroom brand PARISI visits the Bologna region each September for the CERSAIE trade fair. “My parents were Sicilian and immigrated to Australia, so our thinking is still ingrained in an Italian way of life, but also has the benefits of having grown up in Australia,” he says of the founding legacy of PARISI that has been passed onto him. Aside from the personal connection, Franco believes Italy’s geography alone sets it apart. He says that when looking at a world map, the country’s iconic boot shape draws the eye, making it stand out, “I…

With its glistening waters and cascade of hillside houses, you’d be forgiven for thinking you were looking at the magnetic coastline of the Mediterranean. In fact, this destination is not even on the same continent. Located just 35 kilometres off the Southern California coast, Catalina Island boasts a holiday trifecta of delicious seclusion, beauty and charm, and yet the chances of you bumping into another Australian, let alone a non-American, are slim to none. Over 80 per cent of the island’s visitors are sun-bronzed Californians, with only 1.5 per cent hailing from overseas, making it one of the Pacific’s best kept secrets. The island has a fascinating history (it was purchased and developed by chewing gum magnate William Wrigley Jr. in 1919, and was once the home of Marilyn Monroe),…

W SYDNEY The much-anticipated Sydney debut from the W Hotels brand has opened in Darling Harbour following a near decade-long development project. With 588 rooms and suites, four culinary concepts, a spa, and a 30-metre infinity pool, the hotel represents the largest W Hotel in the world. The property’s striking design was conceptualised by Australian architect, Hassell, with interiors by London-based consultancy Bowler James Brindley, who has playfully woven the quintessential Australian ‘larrikin’ character into the hotel spaces. Marine and nautical references throughout the hotel give a nod to Sydney’s harbour and beaches, the W sign was inspired by Australian native plant, the waratah, and a copper-clad entryway alludes to the city’s disused railway tunnels. Wsydney.com RAFFLES LONDON AT THE OWO Raffles London at The OWO has opened in the…