Yulara, Northern Territory - History

History

In early 1970, the pressure of unstructured and unmonitored tourism including motels near the base of Uluru (Ayers Rock) was having detrimental effects on the environment surrounding Uluru and Kata Tjuta. Following the recommendations of a (Commonwealth) Senate Select Committee to remove all developments near the base of the rock and build a new resort outside of the boundaries of the national park to support tourism to the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Commonwealth government agreed in 1973 to relocate accommodation facilities to a new site. In 1976, the Governor General proclaimed the new town of Yulara, some 14 kilometres from the Rock.

After the Northern Territory was granted Self Government in 1978, development of the new town became a major priority of the Northern Territory Government. Between 1978 and 1981, basic infrastructure (roads, water supply etc.) was built via the government's capital works program. In early the government set up the Yulara Development Company Ltd to develop tourist accommodation, staff housing and a shopping centre. The first stage of the resort was built between 1982 and 1984 for the Northern Territory Government by Yulara Development Company Ltd., at a cost of A$130 million. The resort was designed by Philip Cox & Associates and won the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (RAIA) Sir Zelman Cowen Award in 1984.

When the new facilities became fully operational in late 1984, the Commonwealth Government terminated all leases for the old motels near the Rock, and the area was rehabilitated by the national parks service (now called Parks Australia). Around the same time, the national park was renamed as Uluru Kata Tjuta and its ownership transferred to the local Indigenous people, who leased it back to the Parks Australia for 99 years.

There were originally three competing hotels, however this added significantly to the problem of lack of viability, and the company (and indirectly the government) incurred massive operating losses.

In 1990 to 1992, the competing hotel operators were replaced by a single operator, the government owned Investnorth Management Pty Ltd. In 1992, the government sold through open tender a 40% interest in the Yulara Development Company (and therefore, the resort) to a venture capital consortium.

In 1997, the entire resort was sold by open tender to General Property Trust, which appointed Voyages Hotels & Resorts as operator. Voyages operates all aspects of the resort, with the exception of the post office (Australia Post) and the bank (ANZ). Almost all residents of the town rent their housing from Voyages, but government leases some housing for its employees. Most residents are workers in the resort or tour operators. In 2011, the resort was sold again to the Indigenous Land Corporation.