Monarto Safari Park hotel operator named
Exclusive: A nationally renowned tourism operator will take over the luxury accommodation in the safari park’s Wild Africa precinct.
This story is now free to read. Help Murray Bridge News tell more stories like this by subscribing today.
The new operator of a luxury hotel at Monarto Safari Park has been named ahead of its opening next year.
Railway company Journey Beyond will take over the hotel, which was completed earlier this year.
The five-star facility features 78 rooms, conference amenities, a restaurant and bar, two swimming pools and a day spa.
Also included in the operator agreement was the nearby Wild Africa Lodge, with 20 glamping tents and another conference centre and restaurant.
Entrepreneur Gerry Ryan OAM, who spearheaded the development and the safari park’s 2019 rebrand to appeal to international tourists, will maintain ownership of both properties.
Journey Beyond might be best known in the Murraylands for operating the Overland rail service between Adelaide and Melbourne, along with the continent-crossing Ghan and Indian Pacific.
However, the company is no stranger to high-end accommodation.
Among its other operations is a luxury glamping complex called Sal Salis, off the Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia: a place where visitors can snorkel, stargaze and swim with whale sharks.
More generally, Journey Beyond markets itself as providing “unforgettable Australian travel experiences”.
Zoos SA and Journey Beyond are expected to stage an event at the park to formally announce the acquisition early in 2025.
The rail operator has not yet indicated whether it would seek to build a railway station at Monarto so that guests could hop off the Overland and transfer directly into the safari park.
The interstate railway line does run directly along the park’s southern boundary.
At this stage, the closest station is in Murray Bridge, 11 kilometres away.
Monarto Safari Park welcomed more than 135,000 visitors in 2023-24, and was named South Australia's major tourist attraction of the year at the 2024 SA Tourism Awards.
