Journey Beyond has acquired Kelsian’s tourism portfolio, which includes luxury Sydney Harbour superyacht, The Jackson, designed for business events, in addition to the two Starship vessels that also operate on Sydney Harbour and primarily target a business events audience.
The portfolio also includes the Murray Princess paddlewheeler, which offers private charters and conference capability on the Murray River that borders Victoria and New South Wales and runs into South Australia, alongside Kingfisher Bay Resort on K’gari – formerly known as Fraser Island – off the Queensland coast north of the Sunshine Coast, which offers significant event space, an event venue in Perth, Bells Functions, and Swan Valley Tours, offering explorations of the region just outside Perth, including for groups.
In addition, Journey Beyond’s purchase brings SeaLink ferry services around Australia into the fold.
“This is an important moment for Journey Beyond, and we’re proud to welcome these highly regarded businesses, their people and their guests into the Journey Beyond group,” said Journey Beyond CEO, Chris Tallent.
“These are established tourism businesses with strong connections to their destinations and their communities.
“We have a lot of respect for what they have built, and our focus now is on supporting our people and continuing to deliver amazing experiences for our guests.
“The portfolio is highly complementary to our existing experiences and gives our guests even more ways to explore Australia – whether that’s rail to reef, river to resort, or city to sea.
“We’re excited about what we can create together, while making sure the individual character and stories of these destinations and experiences remain at the heart of what we do.”
The value of the the Kelsian assets acquisition is $161 million.
Following the closure of its latest deal, Journey Beyond has announced the launch of Island Connections, a new brand for a range of its ferry and sea services, including some of its newly acquired businesses.
Island Connections includes services to K’gari, Bruny Island in Tasmania, Darwin and the Tiwi Island and some of its operations around the Whitsundays – from Airlie Beach – including cruising yachts, faster vessels and jet skis.
This latest acquisition caps off a significant year of expansion for the experience and accommodation business – Journey Beyond has also acquired operations for Ayers Rock Resort at Uluru this year and bought the Crocodile Hotel in Kakadu in the Northern Territory.
