Encounter in space

If you've got US$200,000 to blow on a very short but rather amazing journey, University of Adelaide graduate Drew Kluska will be able to help you spend it - but you need to be okay with heights.

A rural background, an Agricultural Science degree from Roseworthy Campus and a stint managing a luxurious Kenyan holiday lodge - these were the ingredients for an innovative new travel business set up by graduate Drew Kluska in 1998.

A subsequent year in the University's Graduate Entrepreneurial Program at Thebarton Campus helped put Outback Encounter on a sound business footing.

Now the company is a market leader to a high-end, mainly international clientele, offering prestige customised "off-the-beaten-track" holiday destinations, a taste of authentic Australia with five-star comfort.

And its position as a leading provider of unique travel experiences has been boosted with its appointment as one of eight Australian agents for Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic. Outback Encounter can sell you a space flight from New Mexico scheduled to start in 2009, eight minutes of weightlessness with views of the Earth's curve far beneath - if you've got the budget.

Drew Kluska was recently also named in the top 20 Travel Innovators awards by Travel and Leisure - in recognition of his vision, flair and dedication.

For Mr Kluska, the inspiration for his travel offerings came from two years in Kenya where he managed the Wilderness Trails lodge at the Lewa Downs Wildlife Conservancy, one of the flagships of East African tourism and famous for saving the black rhinoceros and hosting the world's elite.

"This was an incredible experience, the sort of thing you dream about doing your whole life," Mr Kluska said. "It was like living in a National Geographic documentary. But the real secret of its success was that the guests were meeting and staying with Kenyan families. They not only got to see the animals, but they got to meet and know the local people, and what it's like to live in Kenya. Those people had opened up a whole new type of travel.

"I took that concept, which nobody was doing in Australia, and spent the next couple of years just roaming the country, looking for these kinds of experiences we could offer in Australia. My experience in agriculture and my rural background helped me make those contacts."

Many of the products he wanted to offer, however, didn't exist. "We had to create them, convince people they had something to sell. For example, Angorichina Station in the Flinders Ranges were not into the luxury tourism market but we persuaded them to do up their rooms and explained to them how to deliver a product."

Now, fourth-generation pastoralists, Ian and Di Fargher, offer traditional bush hospitality with the chance to sample life on a working sheep station.

Outback Encounters works with people like the Farghers around Australia.

"Great hosts with personality, exceptional guides, these are the things that enable us to offer truly memorable experiences," said Mr Kluska.■

STORY ROBYN MILLS