Journey Beyond is owned by American private equity firm Crestview Partners and already operates several high-profile tourism assets, including the Ghan and Indian Pacific railways.
The deal sees Journey Beyond purchase the operational assets of ILSC subsidiary Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia, which include the Ayers Rock Resort and the Mossman Gorge Cultural in Far North Queensland.
Land and buildings at both locations will be transferred to traditional owners, Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara of Yulara and the Kuku Yalanji of Mossman Gorge. The move brings to an end a 15-year foray into large tourism ventures by the ILSC. In 2010, the Indigenous Land Corporation board announced with great fanfare that it was buying the
Ayers Rock Resort, near Uluru, for $300 million. The deal with Journey Beyond is likely to be for less than $300 million and, while Voyages Indigenous Tourism was never supposed to be just about making a profit, the impending sale has some people asking questions, like was it worth it?
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It is the only place tourists can stay to visit Uluru and contains a range of accommodation options from campsites through to high-end rooms, restaurants, pools and an art gallery.
But by the time the ILC took possession of the resort in early 2011, it needed renovating and modernising. In October 2013, the ILC announced it had
written $62 million off the value of the resort. It also said it was having trouble dealing with its annual
interest repayments of about $10 million. In January 2014, the resort was revalued again down to $202.5 million. And, like all tourism ventures, it was
adversely affected by the pandemic from 2020.
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