About Park Tours
Our Story, Your Next Great Story
We believe travel is more than just sightseeing. It’s about Connecting People, Nature and Cultures Through Unforgettable Travel Experiences. At ParkTours, we offer guided walking holidays that allow you to step out of the everyday and into the world’s most spectacular national parks and wild places. Our guests explore with a sense of wonder, carrying nothing more than a daypack while we handle all the logistics.
A Heritage of Walking Since 1975
In 1975, at Binna Burra Lodge in Lamington National Park, Tony Groom stood at the edge of something far bigger than he realised.
Awarded a Churchill Scholarship, Tony travelled through the National Parks of the United States to explore how environmental education and interpretation could inspire deeper connections to wild places. He returned not just with ideas — but with a vision.
He began sharing a slide presentation with lodge guests about the extraordinary landscapes he had experienced. Something unexpected happened. Guests didn’t simply want to learn about these places. They wanted to go. They wanted to walk them. Feel them. Experience them.
And so, International Park Tours was born.
In those early days, travel bookings arrived by post. Advertisements were placed in print. Cheques were mailed in envelopes. Every detail was handwritten into an exercise book. It was personal. It was considered. It was built on trust.
Tony’s daughter, Lisa, carried that vision forward for 23 years, nurturing the company’s reputation for small, intimate, environmentally focused journeys. Under her leadership, the heart of the company remained unchanged: meaningful travel, genuine connection, and deep respect for the natural world.
Today, Luke — a close family friend — continues that legacy. The values remain the same: small group sizes, ecological responsibility, cultural immersion, and walking experiences that foster real connection — to landscape, to local communities, and to one another.
Over five decades, thousands of travellers have joined us. We’ve shared stories around campfires, laughter on mountain trails, challenges that strengthened friendships, and moments of breathtaking silence in wild places.
And we’re only just getting started.
Fifty Years of Guided Walking
Our Impact at a Glance
- 1975: The year Park Tours was founded, bringing nearly 50 years of heritage to every walk.
- 30+ unique guided walking holidays offered across the globe.
- 6 continents: we explore from our backyard in the Scenic Rim to Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas.
- 8 to 16 maximum group size generally on our tours to ensure a personal, small-group experience.
- 100% committed to ECO Certification and sustainable, minimal-impact travel.
- A Global Network: Our team includes specialist local and naturalist guides chosen for their deep knowledge of the landscapes we walk.
- Decades: The length of time many of our repeat travellers have been part of the Park Tours family.
Meet Luke Christiansen - Owner and Lead Explorer
Luke Christiansen is the owner and lead explorer of Park Tours. He is a modern-day naturalist who spent over a decade as an environmental educator at the iconic Binna Burra Mountain Lodge before taking the helm of the business.
“I remember standing in the Binna Burra reception in 2005, looking at a map pinned with every IPT tour over the last 30 years. The warmth and the bond between the guides and the guests was something I knew I wanted to be part of.”
Today, Luke lives on Tamborine Mountain in a hand-built, eco-friendly home, sharing his deep ecological knowledge with a community of like-minded travellers.
Our Guides – Meet the People Who Lead the Way
We have a global network of passionate guides who bring each destination to life through their local expertise and storytelling. Explore our tour leader profiles to meet the experts who will be joining you on the trail.
We enjoy developing relationships with you over time and aim to treat you as an individual, listen to your comments and honour your preferences. The wonderful feedback we get about our tours and their design shows that our office staff and tour leaders are fulfilling your wishes.
What You Can Expect from A Park Tours Experience
While the style and nature of our tours have evolved over the years, the essence has remained the same. Enjoy half and full-day walks in national parks and wild places. Carry nothing more than a day pack so you have the freedom to explore. Relax and unwind at the end of the day in comfortable accommodation. Taste the local cuisine or enjoy delicious camp meals and picnics. These elements combine to give you a refreshing and energising holiday. We also organise special interest tours including birding, wildlife, self-discovery and community immersion.
Each year we look forward to stepping out of daily life and travelling this world with friends, new and old. Before and during a tour, connections are made, plans become reality and experiences are shared. Out of a tour come inspiration, reunions, celebrations and friendships, many of them life-long.
The Park Tours Difference – Small Groups and Local Flavours
We have a global network of passionate guides who bring each Travellers choose Park Tours for four primary reasons:
- Personalized Small Groups: We try to keep our groups between 8 and 16 people so you are treated as an individual.
- Comfort and Luggage Transfers: We choose quality accommodation and transport your luggage so you can focus on the trail, not a heavy pack.
- A Taste of the Region: Our tours highlight local cuisine and regional produce, believing you cannot truly know a place until you have tasted it.
- Expert Interpretation: Our guides do not just lead the way; they interpret the landscape, sharing stories of geology, history, and wildlife.
Our Values – Inclusion, Sustainability and Connection
We are more than a tour operator, we are a community built on shared values:
- Inclusive Travel: Led by our Responsible Tourism Advisor Sandra Vardanega, we are working towards offering sensory-focused tours for blind and low-vision travellers. We believe the beauty of nature should be accessible to everyone.
- Eco-Friendly Tourism: As an ECO Certified operator, we are committed to minimal-impact travel to protect wild places for future generations.
- Lifelong Friendships: Many of our guests have been travelling with us since the 1980s. When you book a tour, you are joining a family.
Is a Park Tours Holiday Right for You?
You will love our walking tours if:
- You enjoy “slow tourism” and taking the time to truly absorb a destination.
- You want the safety and social connection of a group, but the privacy of your own comfortable room.
- You are curious about the natural world and want to learn while you walk.
Start Your Next Adventure
Travel is a privilege, an education, a revelation and, dare we say, a way of realising our similarities and bridging the differences. There is a world of wild places waiting to be discovered. We would love to explore them with you.