Yulara, Northern Territory

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2022}} {{Use Australian English|date=April 2013}} {{Infobox Australian place | type = town | name = Yulara | state = nt | image = Yulara_from_helicopter_(August_2004).jpg | caption = Yulara from helicopter, August 2004 | coordinates = {{coord|25.2069|S|130.971|E|format=dms|display=inline,title}} | coord_ref =<ref name="NT-PNR-Town">{{cite web |title=Place Names Register Extract for the "Town of Yulara" |url=https://www.ntlis.nt.gov.au/placenames/view.jsp?id=22471 |website=NT Place Names Register |publisher=Northern Territory Government |access-date=15 June 2019}}</ref>

| pop = 853 | pop_year = {{CensusAU|2021}} | pop_footnotes = <ref name="census">{{Census 2016 AUS|id=SSC70302 |name=Yulara (State Suburb)|access-date=30 August 2018|quick=on}}50px Material was copied from this source, which is available under a [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License]</ref>

| established = 10 August 1976 (town)<br />4 April 2007 (locality) | established_footnotes = <ref name=AGG-1976>{{cite news |last1=Adermann |first1=Evan |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article240843436 |title=THE NORTHERN TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA Crown Lands Ordinance PROCLAMATION (re the Town of Yulara) |newspaper=Commonwealth of Australia Gazette |issue=G32 |location=Australia |date=10 August 1976 |access-date=29 April 2019 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref name="NT-PNR-locality">{{cite web |title=Place Names Register Extract for "Yulara" |url=https://www.ntlis.nt.gov.au/placenames/view.jsp?id=22281 |website=NT Place Names Register |publisher=Northern Territory Government |access-date=15 June 2019}}</ref> | abolished = | gazetted = | postcode = 0872<ref name=postcode>{{cite web|title= Yulara Postcode|url= https://www.postcode-finders.com.au/nt-yulara-postcode|publisher= postcode-finders.com.au|access-date= 15 June 2019|archive-date= 17 June 2019|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190617073331/https://www.postcode-finders.com.au/nt-yulara-postcode|url-status= dead}}</ref> | elevation = 492 | elevation_footnotes = (airport)<ref name="BoM-Yulara">{{BoM Aust stats |site_ref =cw_015635_All |site_name = Yulara Aero |access-date=14 May 2016}}</ref> | area = 104 | area_footnotes = <ref name=AGG-1976/> | timezone = ACST | utc = +9:30

| lga = Yulara – Ayers Rock Resort<ref>{{cite web |title=Place Names Register Extract for "Connellan Airport" |url=https://www.ntlis.nt.gov.au/placenames/view.jsp?id=21622 |website=NT Place Names Register |publisher=Northern Territory Government |access-date=15 June 2019}}</ref> | region = | stategov = Gwoja | fedgov = Lingiari<ref name=AEC>{{cite web|title=Federal electoral division of Lingiari|url= https://www.aec.gov.au/profiles/nt/lingiari.htm |publisher=Australian Electoral Commission|access-date=16 June 2019}}</ref>

| near-n = Petermann | near-ne = Petermann | near-e = Petermann | near-se = Petermann | near-s = Petermann | near-sw = Petermann | near-w = Petermann | near-nw = Petermann | near = | footnotes = Locations<ref name=postcode/><ref name=Hema07/><br />Adjoining localities<ref name="MacDonnell-map">{{cite web |title=McDonnell Shire (sic) Localities (map) |url=https://placenames.nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/404775/MacDonnellA3map2_000.pdf |publisher=Northern Territory Government |access-date=17 June 2019 |date=29 October 1997 |archive-date=24 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180324213314/https://placenames.nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/404775/MacDonnellA3map2_000.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> }}

'''Yulara''' is a town in the southern region of the Northern Territory, Australia. It is an unincorporated enclave within the MacDonnell Region. At the {{CensusAU|2016}}, Yulara had a permanent population of 1,099,<ref name="census"/> in an area of {{convert|103.33|km2}}. It is {{convert|18|km}} by road from the World Heritage Site of Uluru (Ayers Rock), and {{convert|55|km}} from Kata Tjuta (The Olgas). It is in the Northern Territory electorate of Gwoja and the federal electorate of Lingiari.

==History== By the early 1970s, the pressure of unstructured and unregulated tourism, including motels near the base of Uluru (Ayers Rock), was having detrimental effects on the environment in the area of both Uluru and Kata Tjuta. Following the recommendation of a Senate Select Committee, which was to remove all developments near the base of the rock, and build a new resort to support tourism in the Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park, the Commonwealth Government agreed in 1973 to relocate accommodation facilities to a new site outside the park. On 10 August 1976, the Governor General proclaimed the new town of Yulara, some {{convert|14|km}} from Uluru.<ref name=AGG-1976/>

After the Northern Territory was granted self-government in 1978, the development of the new town became a priority of the Northern Territory government. Between 1978 and 1981, basic infrastructure, such as roads and water supply, was provided via the government's capital works program. In 1980, the government set up the Yulara Development Company Ltd to provide tourist accommodation, staff housing and a shopping centre.

Between 1982 and 1984, the first stage of the resort was constructed for the Northern Territory Government by Yulara Development Company Ltd., at a cost of A$130 million. The resort was designed by Philip Cox & Associates and won the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (RAIA) Sir Zelman Cowen Award for Public Architecture in 1985. In 2019, it won the Northern Territory Enduring Architecture Award and the National Award for Enduring Architecture.<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 2019 |title=2019 National Architecture Award Winners |url=https://www.architecture.com.au/2019-national-architecture-awards/winners |access-date=18 January 2024 |website=Australian Institute of Architects}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=8 November 2019 |title=Enduring Architecture: Sails in the Desert Takes Home National Award |url=https://www.coxarchitecture.com.au/perspective/enduring-architecture-sails-in-the-desert-takes-home-national-award/ |access-date=18 January 2024 |website=COX Architecture}}</ref>

When the new facilities became fully operational in late 1984, the Commonwealth Government terminated all the leases for the old motels near the Rock, and the area was rehabilitated by the National Park Service (now called Parks Australia). Around the same time, the national park was renamed Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa, and its ownership was transferred to the local Indigenous people, who leased it back to the Parks Australia for 99 years.

There were originally three competing hotels, but that detracted from the viability of the whole enterprise, with the company (and, indirectly, the government) incurring massive operating losses. Between 1990 and 1992, the competing hotel operators were replaced by a single operator, the government-owned Investnorth Management Pty Ltd. In 1992, the government sold, through open tender, a 40% interest in the Yulara Development Company and, therefore, the resort, to a venture capital consortium.

In 1997, the entire resort was again sold by open tender to General Property Trust, which appointed Voyages Hotels & Resorts as operator. Voyages operated all aspects of the resort, with the exception of the post office. Almost all residents of the town rented their housing from Voyages, but the government leased some housing for its employees. Most residents are either workers in the resort or tour operators.

In 2011, the resort was sold once more, to the Indigenous Land Corporation, which operated the resort under its subsidiary, Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia.<ref name="what is">{{cite web |url=http://www.ilc.gov.au/webdata/resources/files/WhatIsTheILCJly06.pdf |title=What is the ILC |work=Indigenous Land Corporation |publisher=Australian Government |access-date=20 August 2016 |archive-date=2 December 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071202033117/http://www.ilc.gov.au/webdata/resources/files/WhatIsTheILCJly06.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ilc.gov.au/Home/About-Us/History |title=History |work=About us |publisher=Indigenous Land Corporation |date=2015 |access-date=20 August 2016 |archive-date=20 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160820194440/http://www.ilc.gov.au/Home/About-Us/History |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 2026, the since-renamed Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation sold the resort to Journey Beyond, a tourism company that operates ''The Ghan'' and other luxury trains.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-05/ayers-rock-resort-being-sold-ilsc-to-us-company-journey-beyond/105867822|title=Ayers Rock Resort to be sold to American-owned tourism company|work=ABC News (Australia)|first=Rudi|last=Maxwell|date=5 December 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ilsc.gov.au/news/ilsc-and-journey-beyond-complete-sale-voyages-indigenous-tourism-australia|title=ILSC and Journey Beyond Complete Sale of Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia|work=Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation|date=2 March 2026}}</ref>

==Demographics== The 2016 Australian census found that Yulara had a population of 1,099 people, which had the following characteristics:<ref name="census"/> * Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders made up 14.2% of the population. * 52.8% of people were born in Australia and 62.6% of people spoke only English at home. * The most common response for religion was "no religion" at 38.4%.

==Transport== thumb|Yulara NT 1 thumb|Springtime in the desert

Ayers Rock Airport, also known as Connellan Airport, is about six kilometres north of Yulara. It makes it possible to reach Yulara from Sydney, Melbourne, Alice Springs, Cairns, Adelaide or Darwin in less time than the five-hour car journey from Alice Springs, the nearest major town, {{convert|428|km}} north-east.<ref name=Hema07>{{cite map |title=Australia Road and 4WD Atlas|last=Hema |first=Maps|year=2007 |publisher=Hema Maps|location=Eight Mile Plains Queensland|isbn=978-1-86500-456-3|pages=100-101 }}</ref>

The resort is served by one major road, the Lasseter Highway, which links it to surrounding roads and landmarks. In the early 2020s, the highway was expanded to cope with increase tourist traffic.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.transportinfrastructurecouncil.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/nt_kfr_expenditure_plan_2018-22.pdf|title=Key Freight Routes 2018 - 22 Expenditure Plan|url-status=dead|access-date=2023-08-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200229231758/https://www.transportinfrastructurecouncil.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/nt_kfr_expenditure_plan_2018-22.pdf|archive-date=2020-02-29}}</ref> The sealed highway runs east to meet the Stuart Highway. The roads in other directions are not well maintained or travelled.<ref name=Hema07/> The Great Central Road heads west and south-west into Western Australia, but is generally only suitable for high-clearance four-wheel drive vehicles. Transit permits from Aboriginal Land Councils are required to travel west of Kata-Tjuta.<ref name="Permits">{{cite web |title=Permits |url=http://www.ngaanyatjarra.org.au/content/permits |publisher=Ngaanyatjarra Council |access-date=17 June 2019}}</ref>

==Climate== Yulara has an arid climate (''BWh''), with long, hot summers and short, cool winters, and scant rainfall year-round. Frost may occur on some winter mornings.<ref name="Peel">{{cite journal|author=Peel, M. C.|last2=Finlayson, B. L.|last3=McMahon, T. A.|year=2007|title=Updated world map of the Köppen–Geiger climate classification|url=https://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/11/1633/2007/hess-11-1633-2007.pdf|journal=Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.|volume=11|issue=5|pages=1636 & 1642|doi=10.5194/hess-11-1633-2007|bibcode=2007HESS...11.1633P |issn=1027-5606|doi-access=free}}</ref>

{{Weather box |location = Yulara Aero (1991–2020, extremes 1983–present) |metric first = yes |single line = yes |width = auto |Jan record high C = 46.8 |Feb record high C = 45.8 |Mar record high C = 45.3 |Apr record high C = 39.6 |May record high C = 35.7 |Jun record high C = 31.7 |Jul record high C = 31.1 |Aug record high C = 37.5 |Sep record high C = 38.7 |Oct record high C = 42.3 |Nov record high C = 45.2 |Dec record high C = 47.1 |Jan high C = 38.4 |Feb high C = 37.0 |Mar high C = 34.5 |Apr high C = 30.1 |May high C = 24.3 |Jun high C = 20.3 |Jul high C = 20.8 |Aug high C = 23.8 |Sep high C = 29.1 |Oct high C = 32.5 |Nov high C = 35.0 |Dec high C = 36.4 |Jan mean C = 30.7 |Feb mean C = 29.7 |Mar mean C = 27.0 |Apr mean C = 22.4 |May mean C = 16.8 |Jun mean C = 12.9 |Jul mean C = 12.7 |Aug mean C = 14.9 |Sep mean C = 20.0 |Oct mean C = 23.9 |Nov mean C = 26.8 |Dec mean C = 28.7 |Jan low C = 23.0 |Feb low C = 22.3 |Mar low C = 19.5 |Apr low C = 14.7 |May low C = 9.2 |Jun low C = 5.5 |Jul low C = 4.5 |Aug low C = 6.0 |Sep low C = 10.8 |Oct low C = 15.2 |Nov low C = 18.5 |Dec low C = 21.0 |Jan record low C = 12.7 |Feb record low C = 12.1 |Mar record low C = 8.0 |Apr record low C = 4.1 |May record low C = 1.1 |Jun record low C = -2.7 |Jul record low C = -3.6 |Aug record low C = -2.3 |Sep record low C = -1.0 |Oct record low C = 3.7 |Nov record low C = 6.5 |Dec record low C = 9.9 | Jan avg record high C = 43.5 | Feb avg record high C = 42.4 | Mar avg record high C = 40.1 | Apr avg record high C = 36.5 | May avg record high C = 31.4 | Jun avg record high C = 27.4 | Jul avg record high C = 27.8 | Aug avg record high C = 31.4 | Sep avg record high C = 36.2 | Oct avg record high C = 39.7 | Nov avg record high C = 41.8 | Dec avg record high C = 43.0 | year avg record high C = 44.4 | Jan avg record low C = 17.4 | Feb avg record low C = 16.4 | Mar avg record low C = 13.0 | Apr avg record low C = 8.1 | May avg record low C = 3.6 | Jun avg record low C = 0.1 | Jul avg record low C = -0.8 | Aug avg record low C = 0.5 | Sep avg record low C = 3.9 | Oct avg record low C = 8.3 | Nov avg record low C = 12.2 | Dec avg record low C = 14.7 | year avg record low C = -1.1 |rain colour = green |Jan rain mm = 29.7 |Feb rain mm = 40.8 |Mar rain mm = 28.6 |Apr rain mm = 15.6 |May rain mm = 11.1 |Jun rain mm = 17.4 |Jul rain mm = 16.8 |Aug rain mm = 5.3 |Sep rain mm = 8.0 |Oct rain mm = 22.8 |Nov rain mm = 34.2 |Dec rain mm = 46.5 |unit rain days = 1 mm |Jan rain days = 3.8 |Feb rain days = 3.0 |Mar rain days = 2.0 |Apr rain days = 1.8 |May rain days = 1.4 |Jun rain days = 1.5 |Jul rain days = 1.8 |Aug rain days = 1.1 |Sep rain days = 1.4 |Oct rain days = 2.9 |Nov rain days = 3.9 |Dec rain days = 4.8 |Jan afthumidity = 18 |Feb afthumidity = 23 |Mar afthumidity = 22 |Apr afthumidity = 24 |May afthumidity = 31 |Jun afthumidity = 35 |Jul afthumidity = 32 |Aug afthumidity = 25 |Sep afthumidity = 19 |Oct afthumidity = 19 |Nov afthumidity = 19 |Dec afthumidity = 24 |Jan dew point C = 6.7 |Feb dew point C = 8.1 |Mar dew point C = 6.0 |Apr dew point C = 4.4 |May dew point C = 3.9 |Jun dew point C = 2.4 |Jul dew point C = 0.8 |Aug dew point C = -0.4 |Sep dew point C = 0.2 |Oct dew point C = 1.9 |Nov dew point C = 3.9 |Dec dew point C = 7.3 |source = Australian Bureau of Meteorology<ref name="Yulara Aero Climate">{{BoM Aust stats |site_ref =cw_015635_All |site_name = Yulara Aero |access-date=25 April 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/data/ |title = Climate data online (Site number: 015635) |publisher = Bureau of Meteorology |access-date = 27 Jun 2025}}</ref>

|date=April 2022}}

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{commons category|Yulara}} {{wikivoyage|Yulara}} * [https://maps.google.com/maps?t=k&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=14&ll=-25.246714,130.989819&spn=0.037962,0.079823 Satellite image from Google Maps] * [http://www.nyangatjatjaracollege.org.au Nyangatjatjara College, Yulara]

Category:Populated places established in 1984 Category:Towns in the Northern Territory Category:Unincorporated areas of the Northern Territory Category:MacDonnell Region