Active project record

Originally reported: 2022
Last reviewed: 21 July 2026
Current status: Initial concept accepted; formal approvals and final investment decision not confirmed

This page records the proposed South Coast Track Huts Walk and its status when last reviewed. It is not maintained in real time. Significant later developments may be covered through Keep It Wild Australia’s Protected Areas Tourism Watch reports.

The original proposal

The South Coast Track Huts Walk is a proposal for a commercially guided walking experience with six private huts along Tasmania’s South Coast Track in Southwest National Park.

The existing South Coast Track is an approximately 85-kilometre wilderness walk between Melaleuca and Cockle Creek. Most independent walkers complete it over six to eight days, travelling through beaches, rainforest, buttongrass plains, mountain passes and river crossings within the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. It remains a remote Grade 4 route requiring bushwalking experience, self-sufficiency and the ability to manage difficult conditions. (Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service)

Under the commercial proposal, guests would travel by light aircraft from Hobart to Melaleuca and walk east to Cockle Creek with professional guides. A bus would return them to Hobart at the end of the journey. The packaged experience was intended to include transport, food, accommodation, park entry fees, basic walking equipment and two guides accompanying a small group. (Coordinator-General Tasmania)

The proposal was initially advanced by South Coast Track Huts Walk Pty Ltd and later associated with Wild Bush Luxury, then a subsidiary of Experience Co. The Tasmanian Government’s current project register identifies Wild Bush Luxury as the proponent and describes the project as a guided bushwalk with private huts in Southwest National Park. (Coordinator-General Tasmania)

Proposed private huts

The accepted concept proposes six private huts positioned along the South Coast Track.

The project brief states that the huts would be prefabricated away from the park and transported to their sites by helicopter for assembly. They were intended to be located away from the view of other walkers and designed with a relatively small physical footprint. (Coordinator-General Tasmania)

The proposed services included:

  • solar-generated power;

  • roof-water collection and storage;

  • dry composting toilets;

  • accommodation and communal facilities for guided groups; and

  • helicopter-supported construction and potentially ongoing servicing.

The operator presented the huts as providing warm, comfortable overnight accommodation and prepared meals for visitors seeking a guided wilderness experience without carrying the full equipment required for an independent South Coast Track journey. (Coordinator-General Tasmania)

No final hut designs, capacities, site plans or infrastructure footprints have been publicly approved. The six-hut description comes from the original accepted project brief and should not be interpreted as a settled development plan.

Protected-area and World Heritage setting

The entire proposal is situated within Southwest National Park, which forms part of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area.

The South Coast Track crosses a remote landscape with significant natural, cultural and wilderness values. The wider area contains Aboriginal cultural heritage reflecting a long and continuing connection to Country, as well as nationally and internationally recognised ecological and geological values.

The project brief states that the development would be required to comply with the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area Management Plan. It also says the proponent would consult Tasmanian Aboriginal representative organisations about cultural values and interpretation. (Coordinator-General Tasmania)

Those commitments describe the proponent’s intentions rather than evidence that assessment or agreement has been completed. No publicly available cultural heritage assessment, Aboriginal community agreement or World Heritage impact assessment for the six-hut proposal was identified during this review.

Government tourism process

The South Coast Track Huts Walk entered Tasmania’s Tourism Opportunities in National Parks process and was accepted as an initial concept.

Acceptance through that process does not constitute development approval. Tasmania’s Office of the Coordinator-General explains that accepted concepts must separately proceed through applicable local, state and Commonwealth assessment and approval processes, with the proponent responsible for preparing the required material and meeting the associated costs. (Coordinator-General Tasmania)

The government register uses several stages to describe progress, ranging from initial concept acceptance through environmental and development assessments, lease negotiations and commercial operation.

As at 27 May 2026, the South Coast Track Huts Walk was still listed at the first of those stages:

Initial concept accepted

It had not been publicly elevated to “commencing formal assessment”, “formal assessment underway”, “seeking other approvals” or any lease-related stage. (Coordinator-General Tasmania)

Commonwealth grant funding

The project was awarded Commonwealth funding through the Regional Jobs and Investment Packages program.

Australian Government records identify a grant for the South Coast Track Huts Walk to Experience Co Limited. Earlier Commonwealth project reporting recorded an allocation of $2.95 million and described the project as active at the end of 2021. (GrantConnect)

The existence of the grant did not amount to environmental or land-use approval. Publicly available grant information does not establish that huts were built, that park leases were granted or that the full grant was ultimately paid and retained.

The current status of the Commonwealth grant, including expenditure, milestones and whether funding remains available following changes in corporate ownership, was not confirmed in the official project material reviewed for this update.

Ownership changes

The ownership of Wild Bush Luxury has changed since the proposal was first accepted.

Experience Co agreed to sell Wild Bush Luxury to Intrepid Travel in December 2025, and the transaction was completed in May 2026. The acquired business included Wild Bush Luxury’s existing premium walking and accommodation operations. (Intrepid Travel)

The South Coast Track proposal was raised in the Tasmanian Parliament because the accepted-concepts register continued to identify Wild Bush Luxury as the proponent while its ownership was changing.

The Tasmanian Government advised Parliament in March 2026 that the Office of the Coordinator-General was engaging with management during the transition. On 9 February 2026, the proponent informed the Tourism EOI Panel that it intended the South Coast Track Huts Walk proposal to continue, although final investment decisions would rest with the new owner after completion of the transaction. (Parliament of Tasmania)

The government said that a change in ownership does not automatically require an accepted concept to restart the EOI process. The panel may, however, request evidence that the new owner has the capacity to deliver the proposal. (Parliament of Tasmania)

No public statement from Intrepid Travel specifically committing to fund or construct the South Coast Track huts was identified during this review.

Evidence of continued progress

The proposal has remained within the Tourism EOI process despite its limited visible progress.

The Tasmanian Government told Parliament that the EOI Panel had considered evidence supplied by the proponent in February 2025 and found it sufficient for the project to remain in the process. In October 2025, the panel requested a project delivery timeline, financial modelling and a further progress report. (Parliament of Tasmania)

The proponent supplied a project delivery timeline on 9 February 2026. That material was considered by the panel on 16 February, with a further financial model and progress update requested by 30 April 2026. The details of the timeline, financial model and panel response have not been made public. (Parliament of Tasmania)

The government’s accepted-concepts register was reviewed again in May 2026 but continued to classify the proposal only as an initial concept. (Coordinator-General Tasmania)

The available evidence therefore indicates that the proposal remains administratively active, but does not demonstrate that it has entered environmental assessment or is approaching construction.

What has changed

The proposal has not progressed into construction since Keep It Wild Australia first reported it.

The most important change has been the ownership transition from Experience Co to Intrepid Travel. The project remains listed under Wild Bush Luxury, but final investment responsibility now appears likely to sit with Intrepid as the new owner. (Intrepid Travel)

The Tasmanian Government has also introduced stronger progress requirements into its Tourism EOI process. Proponents may be asked to provide evidence, delivery timelines and financial information to demonstrate that accepted concepts are not simply retaining a place in the system without advancing.

In the case of the South Coast Track Huts Walk, the panel has accepted evidence sufficient to keep it in the process and has received a private delivery timeline. However, the public status has not moved beyond initial concept acceptance.

No final route, hut sites, environmental assessment, Aboriginal cultural heritage assessment, management-plan amendment, Commonwealth environmental referral, lease, building approval or operating agreement has been published.

Commercial tourism implications

The proposal would establish a dedicated, premium commercial tourism product inside Southwest National Park.

It differs from ordinary guided access because it involves six purpose-built accommodation sites intended primarily for commercially guided clients. The facilities would support a fully serviced experience incorporating accommodation, food, guides and transport rather than relying on existing public campsites.

The development could also require:

  • helicopter construction and servicing;

  • water, energy and waste-management systems;

  • exclusive or preferential access to hut sites;

  • long-term leases or licences over national park land;

  • reserved capacity for commercial groups; and

  • changes to the experience of independent walkers using the same wilderness corridor.

The current project brief says the huts would be positioned away from the view of other park users. Even so, visual screening would not necessarily address wider effects such as helicopter activity, construction access, noise, servicing, waste management and changes to wilderness character.

The operating and access arrangements have not been released. It is not known whether independent walkers would be permitted to use the huts, whether they would remain exclusively available to commercial clients or how the hut sites would interact with existing public camps.

Why this project matters

The South Coast Track is one of Australia’s relatively small number of long-distance walking routes that still requires a high level of independence and self-reliance.

The proposal would introduce a different way of experiencing the same corridor: a guided and serviced journey supported by private roofed accommodation. This could allow people who would not otherwise undertake the track to experience the landscape, while also changing the character and management of an established wilderness route.

The scale of the proposal is also important. Six separate hut sites would create a chain of private tourism infrastructure along much of the track rather than a single development near an existing road or visitor precinct.

The project provides a useful test of Tasmania’s Tourism EOI process because it has remained an accepted concept for several years without reaching a publicly identifiable formal assessment stage. The ownership change adds another question: whether the proposal continues because the new owner intends to build it, or because the concept has not yet been formally withdrawn.

Until detailed assessment documents are released, its effects on wilderness, cultural heritage, public access and World Heritage values cannot be properly evaluated.

Confirmed

The proposal is for a commercially guided walk with six private huts along the South Coast Track in Southwest National Park.

Wild Bush Luxury was listed as the proponent after becoming part of Experience Co.

The proposal received initial acceptance through Tasmania’s Tourism EOI process.

The original concept included light-aircraft transfers, guided walking, meals, accommodation and road transport back to Hobart.

The huts were proposed to be prefabricated and transported into the park by helicopter.

The Australian Government awarded the project funding through the Regional Jobs and Investment Packages program.

Wild Bush Luxury was subsequently acquired by Intrepid Travel.

In February 2026, the proponent advised Tasmania’s Tourism EOI Panel that it intended the project to continue.

As at 27 May 2026, the proposal remained classified as initial concept accepted.

No private huts have been constructed and commercial operations have not commenced. (Coordinator-General Tasmania)

Not yet confirmed

Whether Intrepid Travel will make a final investment decision to proceed.

Whether the Tourism EOI Panel will require further assessment of the proponent’s capacity following the ownership change.

The project delivery timeline supplied privately to the EOI Panel.

The current status and expenditure of the $2.95 million Commonwealth grant.

The precise locations, footprints, capacities and designs of the six huts.

The number and frequency of helicopter flights required for construction and operation.

Whether the proposal requires an amendment to the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area Management Plan.

Whether it will be referred for assessment under the Commonwealth EPBC Act.

The outcomes of environmental, wilderness and Aboriginal cultural heritage assessments.

Whether Tasmanian Aboriginal organisations support, oppose or seek changes to the current proposal.

The length and conditions of any future national park lease or licence.

Whether independent walkers would have access to the huts.

Whether commercial groups would receive reserved campsites, exclusive sites or preferential track access.

The intended construction and opening dates.

Sources and documents

  • Office of the Coordinator-General: Accepted concepts — South Coast Track Huts Walk

  • Office of the Coordinator-General: South Coast Track Walk project brief

  • Tasmanian Parliament: Progress of Tourism Expression of Interest Proposals, 25 March 2026

  • Australian Government: Grant Award GA5127 — South Coast Track Huts Walk

  • Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service: Southwest National Park and South Coast Track

  • Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area Management Plan

  • Intrepid Travel and Australian Competition and Consumer Commission material concerning the acquisition of Wild Bush Luxury