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Indigenous landowners to bid for Uluru resort

Bridget Carter

16 September 2008 - ABORIGINAL landowners around Uluru are planning to bid for the nearby $440 million Ayers Rock Resort to secure a slice of the tourism dollar at the country's biggest icon.

The resort is part of an $800 million tourism portfolio that was put up for sale earlier this year by the GPT Group, as it moved to drive down debt.

The Aboriginal communities surrounding the rock, the Mutitjulu, the Imanpa and the Kaltukatjara people, have banded together with Sydney merchant bank Grant Samuel and the resort's former managing director Wayne Kirkpatrick to work up an offer for the only accommodation at Ayers Rock.

Grant Samuel Corporate Finance said yesterday it was looking for other partners to buy the resort when bids for the complex close next month.

The company acting for the local people in the consortium deal is called Wana Ungkunytja. Its spokeswoman, Penny Debelle, said the resort was a natural fit with the rest of the assets it already owned in the Northern Territory. Wana Ungkunytja runs tours such as Spirit of the Night and Sky, Frontier Camel and Anangu Tours.

Ms Debelle said that at present the local people did not benefit financially from the resort.

"It is the only place you can stay at the rock," Ms Debelle said yesterday. "But the local people aren't able to have any benefit from the tourism dollar around the rock.
This would ensure employment for the local community."

Grant Samuel's director of corporate finance, Jacoline Bekker, said GPT wanted to sell the Ayers Rock resort and the Voyages Lodges as a package. Voyages Lodges includes Bedarra, Lizard and Heron islands in Queensland, and Cradle Mountain Lodge in Tasmania.

Together, Ayers Rock Resort and Voyages Lodges were last valued by GPT at $550 million.

"Our preference is just for Ayers Rock, but we are hoping to get another party involved that will be interested in the Voyages assets," Ms Bekker said.

The Ayers Rock Resort is on 94sqkm of freehold land and has accommodation ranging from deluxe hotels to camping, with 930 rooms on the entire complex. On average, guests pay $200 a night to stay there.

The resort was valued at just under $440 million last year, but occupancy rates have since slipped to below 60 per cent.

Source: The Australian

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