In an exciting new development, Abercrombie & Kent Travel Group (AKTG) has confirmed exclusively to LATTE it will open a luxury wilderness resort in the heart of Western Australia’s Purnululu National Park, home to the famous Bungle Bungles – the company’s first camp in the Asia Pacific Region.
This project, backed by a partnership with the Billingjul Aboriginal Corporation (BAC), comes on the back of long discussions with Tourism WA which has been working hard to secure accommodation investment in some of Western Australia’s remote areas.
The new property aims to offer visitors an exclusive, authentic First Nations experience in a UNESCO World Heritage-listed area delivered in the luxurious style for which A&K is known, according to A&K’s Senior Vice President APAC Graham Wood.
It marks a significant step in the expansion of A&K’s luxury wilderness camps. “We’ve been doing this for a long time all over the world, but this will be our first camp in Australia, New Zealand, or indeed the Asia Pacific region,” Wood told LATTE.
Open from September or October through to March or April, it will be a seasonal camp that will provide guests with access to the remote Bungle Bungles, a place rich in Aboriginal culture, and will even offer views of the beehive-shaped rock formations. It will have 16 rooms, with one top-of-the-range Geoffrey Kent villa. While the designs are still being finalised by South Australian firm Bennett Architecture, Wood revealed the camp will feature a bar, restaurant, and storytelling space, alongside a pool all built in a way to complement the natural surroundings.
The pristine environment of this area will be preserved and celebrated throughout this development. With exclusive rights to the land through a living land lease with the BAC, the resort promises to provide a unique, immersive experience.
Subscribe to LATTE’s free eNewsletter to keep up to date with everything in the luxury travel industry.
A&K’s primary goal is to create a sense of place, ensuring that every room offers a connection to the Purnululu National Park landscape. “It’s such an amazing part of the world that we really want to bring the country into the rooms,” Wood said. “We want you to feel a sense of place when you’re there. So whether you’re sitting in some room or on your private brand or sitting out in the public areas, you really know that you’re sitting in Pernululu National Park. It will be the only camp with a view of the Bungle Bungles do we want to make sure we try and maximise that as much as possible.”
Sustainability is a core principle of the development, with plans for an off-grid operation powered by solar energy and utilizing local water sources. The resort’s design will also minimise environmental impact, as components of the camp will be pre-built off-site to reduce disruption to the landscape. The BAC’s commitment to maintaining the land’s integrity aligns perfectly with A&K’s ethos of preserving the natural environment.
As the project moves forward, BAC will play a significant role in the development, working with AKTG to create “pathways” for local communities, by training local Indigenous guides to lead tours, ensuring an authentic experience for all guests. “We want you to be walking on the land with people who are connected to it,” Wood said.
Together, the two parties will also look at training members of the local community to take on other roles at the camp too, as the company has done with great success in other regions. “In Africa, we have people who joined us as gardeners, and now they’re actually managers at our camps – this is exactly what we want to do here,” Wood explained. “Tourism is most sustainable when the communities can actually see the benefits of it.”
While Wood expects the camp to cater in the main to international tourists, he also predicts strong domestic interest. The location will additionally cater to cruise visitors drawn to the area, providing convenient access via charter flights from Darwin and Broome. “The Kimberley cruise season will a good feeder for the camp,” he said.
Wood pointed to an opening date in 2027, with bookings likely to open in 2026, but forecast that challenging construction conditions in this remote area could hinder progress, potentially pushing it out to 2028. When quizzed on potential for further projects in a similar vein in Australia, he confirmed there was nothing to share at this stage. “This is our first project and people can read into that what they will,” he said.