Australia’s Uluru Sees Bright Future From Visitors Interested in More Than a Rock

It’s the tourism story that’s got everything. A big rock in the middle of nowhere, an indigenous culture asserting its rights, virtue signaling, screams of political correctness, risk, innovation, a spectacular art installation, and crucially, a surge in visitors to the red heart of Australia.

Ayers Rock, or Uluru, is an Australian tourism icon and, for some tourists, a climb to its top is an item on the bucket list. It has made the Northern Territory a popular destination for Asians for whom Australia is their first “Western” holiday. But apart from the Japanese, most Asian travelers are probably content to just do a two-hour walk around the rock and soak in the red hues of the desert, in itself a unique experience.

In truth, climbing the rock isn’t the main reason for visitors — in fact, the number of climbers has dropped drastically over the years. So the forthcoming ban on climbing Uluru— rightly or wrongly — won’t have a significant impact on visitor numbers post-October 26.

The destination is lucky that tourist behaviors are changing, as our report below shows. They want more connections with aboriginal people and cultures. Rocks, spectacular or spiritual as they may be, don’t speak.

On the supply side, kudos must go to the local providers who understand customers are changing and are giving them more ways to immerse themselves in the place. New attractions such as Field of Light are also a brilliant idea to entice travelers to visit and experience something that they can only get in Uluru.

The willingness to cater to changing customers and to make a destination unique are what ensures that Uluru will remain spiritual and rock-steady long after October 26.

— Raini Hamdi, Skift Asia Editor, [email protected], @RainiHamdi

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Asia Editor Raini Hamdi [[email protected]] curates the Skift Asia Weekly newsletter. Skift emails the newsletter every Wednesday.

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