Award-winning Flinders Ranges tourism operators Tony and Julie Smith are expanding their reach to the Barossa Valley after buying five luxury accommodation cottages at Lyndoch.

 The couple has run high-profile eco-tourism facility Rawnsley Park Station in the Flinders since 1985 and says adding Barossa Shiraz Estate to the portfolio made good business sense.

Mr Smith said the estate would broaden the family owned business’s offerings to its growing numbers of local and overseas tourists.

“Having a property in both the Barossa and Flinders Ranges means we will be able to package the two regions and create seamless itineraries for interstate and international guests,” Mr Smith said.

“Feedback from international sales representatives and travel wholesalers regarding our expansion into the Barossa has been extremely positive, it enables them to create an experience that encapsulates the best of the Barossa and Flinders Ranges all with the one tourism operator.”

The couple’s Flinders Ranges station has been in the Smith family since 1953 and was owned by Tony’s father, Clem Smith, who opened the land to tourism in 1968.

There were now about 20,000 visitors to the station each year, and it had a restaurant, luxury eco-villas, and more modest homestead, holiday units and camping ground.

The new Barossa Valley estate targets higher end tourists with luxury accommodation close to wineries, and Mr Smith claimed it “perfectly complements the Rawnsley Park Station experience”.

“Combine a visit to the Barossa and the Flinders Ranges and you’ve got the ultimate South Australian getaway, which we believe will be extremely attractive in our key international markets of the UK, Europe, USA and New Zealand,” he said.