The tourism sector in Australia has boomed by 20% within the past few years for an impending ban on climbing ‘Uluru’, a massive sandstone located in Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park.
The Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park board has voted to ban the climb ever since 2017 in recognition of the rock’s cultural significance to the Anangu people. The ban has been approved and to be imposed on this Saturday, October 26th.
The ban to climb Uluru has also gained huge media attention which led 395,338 people to rush into Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park on last year, and shows a significant increase in tourist arrivals in Australia.
34 years to the day since the sacred rock of Uluru in central Australia was handed back to its traditional owners.
The Uluru-Kata Tjuta National park’s traditional owners, also known as the Anangu people, are excited to mark the end of a decades-long fight to close the climb.
Despite fears that closing the climb would destroy tourism in the area, operators are optimistic about their prospects for the remainder of the year.
Opposing the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park board’s decision to impose the ban, some politicians, and hoteliers have objected the closure complaining that the ban was discriminatory, as tourists should be allowed to climb the rock as a way to aware people about the geographical significance of the country.
Mr Hendrickx, a geologist stated in a statement that, “We should be free to enjoy these wonderful natural spaces on our terms without being fettered by petty bureaucracy and the religious views of others,”
Major accommodation providers in the area also shared their views on as a result of being one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites for its massive sandstone tourists would keep trying to climb the rock illegally even after the ban comes into place.
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