Journey Beyond acquiring Ayers Rock Resort, set to lease land from newly minted Aboriginal corp

An American-backed tourism company are set to get their hands on assets at Uluru – but not the land, which will be leased to them by a new Aboriginal corporation, this masthead can exclusively reveal.

Ayers Rock Resort at Uluru, NT. Picture: File

An American-backed tourism company will soon be in charge of the accommodation at Uluru – but they will lease the land the hotels are on from a new Aboriginal corporation.

Journey Beyond, operators of the Ghan, are set to snap up hotels at Yulara, currently operated by Voyages Indigenous Tourism, ending months of speculation around who will be running accommodation by the rock.

Previous reports place the sale around $300 million, but this masthead can exclusively reveal the Ghan-runners will lease the land from the newly minted Yulara Anangu Corporation.

ASIC documents show the corporation is a not-for-profit with 12 Indigenous directors which was registered July 2 this year.

The deal is weeks away from being inked, this masthead understands.

Currently, Voyages – which has been on the market since February last year – runs all the accommodation at Uluru, and is controlled by the Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation (ILSC).

The current deal is for Journey Beyond to take control of the six accommodation options at Yulara, The Australian has previously reported.

The latest ILSC annual report states the government body helped establish the new corporation, to “which it will divest the Yulara block” to in 2026.

Currently, all tourist accommodation at Uluru is in the Yulara township.

“It is anticipated that transaction documents will be signed in late 2025,” the ILSC report states, when discussing the sale of Voyages assets, with the deal being done either “late 2025 or early 2026,” according to the report.

Among the directors are artists, tour guides, and the grandchildren of now-deceased elders who were influential in lobbying the government to change the 1976 Aboriginal Land Right (NT) Act – leading to the formal hand back of Uluru of 1985.

Voyages Ayers Rock Resort, located at Yulara, with Uluru in the background. Picture: File

The corporation’s registered office is based in Mascot, NSW, the ASIC register shows, but ASIC documents list the principal place of business as Yulara.

The ILSC’s latest annual report states Ayers Rock Resort saw a 77 per cent occupancy rate this financial year, a seven per cent increase in stays when compared to the previous financial year.

In September, the ILSC said it had entered “exclusive” discussions with Journey Beyond about the company obtaining Ayers Rock Resort and Voyages assets.

Previously, NT’s Airport Development Group, whose portfolio includes the Alice Springs, Darwin and Tennant Creek airports, had indicated it wanted to see the rock’s accommodation “kept in Australian hands”.

Journey Beyond is operated by Crestview partners, a New York based private equity firm which has $10.5 billion in “capital commitments,” its website states.

A Journey Beyond spokeswoman said the company was “unable to provide any comment at this time”, when contacted for comment.

Also included in the sale of Voyages assets is Mossman Gorge Cultural Centre, located 80km north of Cairns in Queensland.

Greenhill and Gilbert and Tobin have been assisting ILSC with the sale, with the assets previously valued at $380 million.

The ILSC bought Ayers Rock Resort and the surrounding assets in 2011 for $310m.

In 2019, climbing the rock was closed at the request of the Anangu – the traditional owners of Uluru – who’d long asked people to not climb it.

An ILSC spokesman said there had been “no updates” to the sale process when contacted for comment.

Voyages was contacted for comment but did not respond by time of publication.

Originally published as Journey Beyond acquiring Ayers Rock Resort, set to lease land from newly minted Aboriginal corp