The iconic Central Australian destination was this week named as one of the ‘World’s Greatest Places 2019’ by TIME magazine.

The second annual list solicited nominations across a variety of categories — including museums, parks, restaurants, and hotels — from its editors and correspondents around the world as well as industry experts.

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In explaining why Uluru made the list, freelance travel journalist Hannah Lott-Schwartz said it was an unmissable destination.

“At the centre of Uluru — Kata Tjuta National Park is the physical and cultural heart of Australia, a red sandstone monolith called Uluru (or Ayers Rock, its colonial name) that towers over the outback’s desert plains,” she said.

“The park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and sacred to the aboriginal Anangu, who’ve inhabited the land for tens of thousands of years.

“Despite these protections, the 1,142-ft.-tall rock has been marred for decades by poles and cables that allow visitors to climb the site.

“That changes in October, when the government will officially c

lose Uluru to climbing, ensuring the monument sustains no further human damage.”

In November 2017, the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park Board started the countdown of when the climb would be closed permanently.

The date of October 26, 2019 was put forward — a significant day for the Anangu indigenous community because it was that day in 1985 that the government returned ownership of the land to the traditional owners.

But since setting the date, the number of people climbing Uluru has skyrocketed.

Before park management announced it was closing the climb, around 140 people were climbing Uluru each day.

Since then, the number has doubled and at times tripled to 300-500 daily visitors.

Last week, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson travelled to Uluru and attempted to climb the sacred site.

“I agree there are safety issues with the climb and I think there needs to be a serious rethink of how safety can be implemented if they were to keep it open,” she said.