Voyages Indigenous Tourism officially opened the new Uluru Meeting Place on Friday, as management identified conferences and events as a key sector to boost occupancy at Ayers Rock Resort.
More than 100 guests travelled to the Red Centre for the launch of the new Uluru Meeting Place and Sails in the Desert Hotel renovations last week.
Forming part of a $30 million makeover, the resort has undergone a complete restoration of all rooms and restaurants, while the new conference centre has been fitted out with state of the art equipment to cater for up to 420 seated guests.
A number of free cultural activities and team building exercises have also been added to the offering.
Speaking with The Nibbler in Ayers Rock over the weekend, Voyages Indigenous Tourism managing director Koos Klein said the new facilities would allow the resort to step into the lucrative conference market, which was virtually untapped in the past.
And with conferences currently comprising three percent of overall business, he remained confident that number would grow to at least 15% over the next two to three years.
“Until now there has been some meetings going on, but we didn’t really have the facilities to professionally run these events,” he said. “I believe now we have… and already the phones are ringing off the hook.”
Klein admitted that the hotel’s reputation had been tarnished because previous management had “run the hotel into the ground” before Voyages took over in May last year.
But he stressed that the $30 million overhaul would restore Voyages to its “world class status” and translate to strong business and leisure bookings in the future.
Klein also highlighted Voyages’ commitment to Indigenous employment as it looks to increase the number of Indigenous staff from two to 250 over the next five years.
Minister for Tourism Martin Ferguson commended the resort for its efforts, noting that Voyages was “creating a legacy to overcome difficulties with Indigenous employment”.
“It’s a disgrace to think that the resort had not embraced Indigenous employment in the past,” he said. “They are a huge source of labour at a time of labour shortages, and we now have a real opportunity to create jobs not just for the red centre, but for the rest of Australia.”
