kabarsula Luxury Escapes doubles down on bricks-and-mortar with new Brisbane store bandar SLOT INDONESIA

Luxury Escapes is set to open its first Queensland location at Westfield Chermside this morning, marking the travel brand’s third bricks-and-mortar store.

Having disrupted the traditional travel retail model with its digital-first approach, Luxury Escapes is now challenging expectations once again, taking its offering into physical retail spaces as it looks to bring the brand closer to customers.

Luxury Escapes chairman Andrew McEvoy, who attended the evening launch event on behalf of founder and CEO Adam Schwab, said the stores were an important way to build trust with customers and give them greater confidence in booking with the brand.

“People always ask us, why are we opening bricks-and-mortar stores?” he said. “Adam, our founder, says that our store is like a great airport lounge meets an Apple concept store –  we want you to feel like you’re on holiday when you walk in.” 

The value of the in-store experience

While around 60 per cent of Luxury Escapes’ business is booked online, McEvoy said another third comes through phone enquiries, with approximately five to six per cent coming through its physical stores. 

However, the value of those in-person bookings is significantly higher. 

“What happens in here, the order value is exponentially higher than an online booker or a sales call online,” he said, pointing to the personalised service and ability for consultants to help customers build out their holidays with additional transfers, tours and flights. 

The stores also play an important role in building consumer confidence, particularly among customers who may be unfamiliar with the brand. 

“A lot of people don’t know us, surprisingly, even though we’ve got 18 million members, and people come across this beautiful store and go, ‘Wow, they’re real’,” McEvoy said. 

“The big feedback we get on a lot of our deals is they’re too good to be true. And when they see a physical place like this, they feel confident and they know that they are actually true. So that’s why we open those up.” 

A growing retail footprint

The Chermside location follows the success of Luxury Escapes’ original physical store at Melbourne’s Chadstone Shopping Centre, which opened in 2023.

The Bondi Junction store followed, opening on 12 November 2025 – coincidentally, the same date as the Chermside launch one year later.

Behind the experience is a team of 15 travel consultants, led by Queensland-based Gina Kearney, who has been appointed to head up the new store. 

The store is being overseen by Ben Admon, who has also been involved in establishing Luxury Escapes’ previous retail locations.

McEvoy said Queensland represented a significant and growing market for the business. 

“Queensland is a very strong and growing market for us,” he said. “Queenslanders, you guys know holidays. Queensland is the ultimate Australian holiday destination.” 

The former CEO of Tourism Australia, McEvoy said the state had a particularly strong connection with domestic holidays, with the Gold Coast proving to be a popular domestic destination among Luxury Escapes customers, alongside Cairns, the Great Barrier Reef and the Sunshine Coast.