Released on: November 25, 2007, 4:31 pm

Press Release Author: Wiley-Blackwell

Industry:

Press Release Summary: Many visitors will forgo climbing Uluru if given advanced and
accurate information about its Aboriginal owner's perspective.

Press Release Body: Melbourne, Australia - 26 November 2007- Many visitors will
forgo climbing Uluru if given advanced and accurate information about its Aboriginal
owner's perspective. A study in Geographical Research, published by Wiley-Blackwell,
finds that both non-Aboriginal visitors and tour operators showed openness to the
owners' - the Anangu - view of Uluru, and their wish that the sacred rock not be
climbed.

The paper, "Constructing the Climb: Visitor Decision-Making at Uluru" by Sarah
James, suggests that a more proactive pre-trip representation of the Anangu's
sentiments will allow visitors to make a more informed decision with regard to the
climb.

"There is a great potential to change the visitors' choice of climbing Uluru. Many
tourists continue to climb as they are given the impression in pre-trip tourism
information that it is desirable and acceptable. It is too late to affect their
decision by the time they see the 'Please Do Not Climb' sign at the base of Uluru",
says Ms. James.

Almost all of the tourists interviewed felt that there was insufficient information
available about the Anangu's feelings. They also felt that the information was
presented to them too late. Many suggested that - if informed earlier - they would
decide to not proceed with the climb.

Tour operators also suggest that the climb was no longer as central to their
business as once considered, and that closure of the climb would not cause any
significant long-term damage to business.

Uluru has historically symbolized a split between settler and Aboriginal concepts of
place and of appropriate actions within place. The highly contested site was handed
back to the Anangu in 1985, and tourists continue to swarm to the Uluru-Kata Tjuta
National Park with almost half of its 400 000 visitors climbing Uluru.

Ms. James adds, "Tourist surveys suggest that the tourism industry could do a lot
more to dissuade people from climbing Uluru without encountering the level of
resistance previously anticipated. Visitors indicated they would respect the wishes
of the Anangu not to climb if these were more clearly and compellingly presented
before they arrived."

An earlier version of the paper was presented at the Institute of Australian
Geographers Annual Conference in 2005.


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This paper is published in the December 2007 issue of Geographical Research (45 (4):
398-407).

The article abstract is available free online at
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1745-5871.2007.00478.x


Media wishing to receive a PDF or schedule media interviews with the author should
contact Alina Boey, PR & Communications Manager at
alina.boey@asia.blackwellpublishing.com or phone 613-83591046.


Geographical Research
Geographical Research, formerly Australian Geographical Studies, is the
international journal of the Institute of Australian Geographers. The journal
publishes high quality papers that advance geographical research across the breadth
of the discipline. In addition to major research articles, the journal publishes
shorter contributions, including Commentaries, Research Notes and Teaching Notes.
Geographical Research is published four times per year.



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613-8359 1046

alina.boey@asia.blackwellpublishing.com