Journey Beyond, operator of the Indian Pacific and The Ghan and owned by Quadrant Private Equity, has been sold to the US-based Hornblower Group for a reported $600 million.
Hornblower is a cruise and tour company based in San Francisco, which operates from 125 American cities and runs boat trips to and from the likes of Niagara Falls, the Statue of Liberty and Alcatraz.
The sale, due to be finalised next month, is expected to attract American tourists back to Australia, with the company using its US market expertise to amplify marketing opportunities across the Journey Beyond portfolio of brands across land and sea. These include the Overland and Great Southern trains, Cruise Whitsundays, the Rottnest Express, as well as the Melbourne Skydeck in Melbourne’s tallest building, the Eureka Tower.
The Indian Pacific, which regularly criss-crossed the country before the pandemic, is expected to resume operations once Western Australia reopens its borders on February 5.