Same culture - Different Faces for ParkTours

New Era for 49 year old walking tour company

What a start to the new year it was in our neck of the woods - a tornado in the Gold Coast Hinterland, then a heatwave, flood, 13-day power outages all in a matter of a few weeks! With all the excitement I’m sure we are going to have an eventful year ahead.

Firstly, a warm welcome to all the people that know me and have shared some amazing, life affirming experiences on tours over the years and I take this opportunity to introduce myself to those that I haven’t yet had the pleasure to. I'm Luke Christiansen, the new owner of International Park Tours/ IPT / ParkTours (but I've been connected for what seems like a lifetime).

The story goes like this:  while I was working as a guide at Binna Burra Lodge in 2005, the IPT team and past guests had gathered for a 30-year reunion. A large pin board with a map of the world stood in the reception area with a pin to indicate every tour they had taken. To say that I was impressed was an under-statement. The warmth and care that they shared to their guests and the way they responded back was inspirational and I wanted me a bit of that! From that light bulb moment, I have wanted to work with IPT, so when I was asked to lead several of their tours both in Australia and overseas, I was part of the IPT family.

Fast forward to the end of 2023 when I was informed that Lisa was about to wind up to move into other interests, she offered me and my family the opportunity to continue the ParkTours legacy. Her father Tony, mother Connie and Lisa had lovingly built and crafted one of the first Australian companies to offer walking tours and they pioneered tours to many destinations that are now icons in tourism.

With the our office team and Lisa still helping out in the transition, we are close to launching a new website, revamping the Binna Burra bus and offering more local as well as international tours. Thank you for all the messages of support we have received over the last few months and we encourage you to jump on board with us for your next traveling adventure.

Luke and the ParkTours team