Australian Wilderness Tours buys Odyssey Tours & Safaris

Grant Hunt, Sydney based CEO of Voyages Hotels and Resorts, confirmed today that its Darwin based Odyssey Tours and Safaris has been sold.  Voyages announced in January that Odyssey would be closed as part of the Company’s rationalisation of touring operations.  Hunt said that this announcement had led to successful negotiations with New South Wales based Australian Wilderness Tours. 

Mr Hunt added, “We are really pleased that the Odyssey operation, which has been so successful and popular over recent years, but not a core business for Voyages, will be taken over by a highly experienced operator who offers a very similar luxury product and that they will continue operating the Odyssey programmes.” 

“It was also our objective to ensure that customers who had booked with us would be offered a comparable high quality product and this can now be achieved through our sale of Odyssey to Australian Wilderness Tours”.

Ralph Clissold, Managing Director of Australian Wilderness Tours confirmed that Australian Wilderness Tours had bought the Odyssey business. 

He said, “We are thrilled at being able to purchase this very well established and well-respected Northern Territory tours business, clearly recognised as a tourism leader in the Top End”.  “We are also very pleased to have been able to secure the services of key former Odyssey staff and although AWT has operated in the Northern Territory for many years, this purchase cements our commitment to this amazing tourism destination”.

“We are also absolutely committed to ensuring continuity of all aspect of the operation, not only in relation to all operators and client bookings with Odyssey, but also in relation to future bookings”.

John Alwyn-Jones, Director of Marketing and Development for Australian Wilderness Tours and now Odyssey added, “We will be operating the full Odyssey programme that operators and agents know so well for the foreseeable future and offering exactly the same high standard of product and service”. 

“The purchase of Odyssey is also a prefect fit with the excellent national Australia and overseas programmes run by Australian Wilderness Tours, which now offers domestic and international operators and clients the most comprehensive luxury, up-market 4WD eco tour programme available in Australia today.” 

He added, “All bookings will be honoured and we will be contacting all operators and clients in the next few days to give them the good news. We have also received a tremendous response from the Northern Territory Government and in particular the Northern Territory Tourist Commission”.

Bookings and enquires should continue to be made to Odyssey’s Darwin numbers and email addresses as follows:-

1 800 891 190

+61 8 8984 3504

[email protected]

www.odysaf.com.au (being reinstated very shortly)

Media enquiries on behalf of Australian Wilderness Tours and Odyssey Tours and Safaris to John Alwyn-Jones, CelticaConsult Pty Ltd at: –

T: 02 9907 8651

M: 0402 891 674

E: [email protected]

Media enquires on behalf Voyages Hotels and Resorts to Damien Hanger at: –

T: +61 2 8296 8055

M: 0403 609 379

E: [email protected]