Operating a Resort in the Desert

Middle of nowhere or middle of everything?

By road, we’re located 450km from the nearest large town, Alice Springs. To some, that might seem like the middle of nowhere. We like to think of it as being in the middle of everything. Surrounded by desert plains, under a sparkling sky, home to thousands of plants and animals – there’s truly no better place to live, work, and play, if you ask our team (but we might be a little biased!)

When it comes to operating a large resort in the middle of the desert, we’ve had a few years of practice, and we’re proud to say we have a pretty good system under our belts. Of course, we’re always open to new ways of doing things, becoming more efficient and sustainable, and sharing our experiences with even more guests and staff. Welcome to Ayers Rock Resort – here’s an insider’s peek at how we operate here in the heart of the Outback.

Learning from History

For more than 30,000 the Anangu have depended on millennia of knowledge, experience, and stories passed on from generation to generation in order to survive the desert’s tough, unforgiving landscape. They learned to live with wildly fluctuating temperatures, from searing hot days to subzero winter nights, and they learned how to find hidden water holes and sources of food in a landscape that, to the untrained eye, appears quite barren.

Supplying The Resort

Twice a week, three fully-loaded trains make the 1,663km trip along the Stuart and Lasseter Highways from Adelaide to Yulara bringing food and materials, and additional necessities are provided via trucks that make the daily 443km trek from Alice Springs. The road trains are back-loaded with glass, steel, paper, and cardboard, which are taken back to Adelaide to be recycled.

Getting Here

While the Northern Territory Government services the main roads leading into Yulara, the Resort is responsible for maintaining the condition of all secondary roads, including those leading to its signature experiences, like Sounds of Silence, Desert Awakenings, and Tali Wiru. The Resort also manages the facilities and back office staff at the Ayers Rock Airport, including retail, services operations in the departure lounge, and transportation of passengers to and from their destinations.

Tjintu Solar Field

Tjintu means ‘sun’ in local Pitjantjatjara, making it the perfect name for a solar powered field located in what is considered one of the world’s best solar energy regions. The abundance of sunshine year-round and the vast swaths of land make this the perfect location for a solar energy plant to supplement Yulara and Ayers Rock Resort’s current electricity supply.

Township of Yulara

Located in the township of Yulara, the Resort employs about 910 staff at peak times, including hospitality professionals from all over the world and more than 270 Indigenous employees, some of whom have completed the Resort’s training and employment programs. Because many young families are stationed here, the Resort runs a childcare facility, a school for students from prep through to year 7, and a School of the Air Centre for students up to year 12. Thanks to this workforce and their families, Yulara is the fourth biggest town in the Northern Territory.

Quick Facts

The road trains that travel 1,663km from Adelaide to the Resort twice a week are three trailers long with a total length of 55m and carry 66 pallets of goods each trip
Each year, 85,716L of milk, 348,300 eggs, 14.79t of watermelon and 33,496,960 pieces of toilet paper are transported to the Resort
730 employees every year fly or drive great distances to start their new job at the Resort
The Resort’s technical services team responds to over 35,537 maintenance requests each year and services a fleet of 137 vehicles
The Resort runs its own rubbish dump with over 6,058.50 m3 of waste going to landfill in 2016/2016 and 2649.84t is transported 1,663km to Adelaide for recycling

Anangu Art – Symbols

Anangu paintings are created for religious and ceremonial expression and for teaching and storytelling. Several rock shelters at the base of Uluru provide visitors with the opportunity to observe evidence of this ancient tradition. The symbols and figures in the caves at Uluru are similar to those found at many sites throughout Central Australia, including geometric symbols such as concentric circles, figures representing animal tracks, and the outlines of animals. Artists can use these symbols to represent different meanings.

The concentric circles symbol is a good example of how artists often use the same symbol to represent many things. In some paintings, concentric circles may mean a waterhole or a camping place. In others, the same symbol may indicate a tjala (honey ant) nest, or ili (native fig). The symbol usually represents a site that is a part of an intricate story being recorded and told by the artist. The true meanings of the rock paintings at Uluru rest with the artists and their descendants.

Making indigenous art; three people making Australian indigenous art by hand

Anangu Art – Colours

Anangu make paints from natural mineral substances mixed with water and sometimes with animal fat. They most commonly use red, yellow, orange, white, grey and black pigments. Red, yellow and orange pigments are iron-stained clays called ochres. Calcite and ash are used to make white pigment and calcite and charcoal are used to make black pigment. Calcite is a chalky mineral which occurs naturally in calcrete deposits common in this area.