New Indigenous Encounters Program at Uluru Meeting Place

Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia is adding to its portfolio of 'Indigenous Encounters' at Ayers Rock Resort available exclusively to Business Event clients. The new products, which are available to conferences and business events held at the Resort from 1 April 2014, offer a suite of affordable options to incorporate cultural involvement.

"The Uluru Meeting Place, recently awarded Australia's highest accolade - the Tourism Australia Award for Business Tourism - is now established as an exciting venue and a number of successful and exciting events have been held since its opening in November 2012. While the quality of the facilities, food and beverage and of course the location in proximity to the spiritual heart of Australia receive high praise there has been consistent interest in ways to incorporate Indigenous activities," said Voyages Executive General Manager Sales, Marketing and Distribution, Ray Stone.

Indigenous Encounters has been designed to meet every group's needs - large or small. The suite of activities includes traditional local Inma dance and welcome to country, dot painting workshops, Aboriginal campfire tours, performances from cultural dancers, an Indigenous dance workshop, a segment of traditional Aboriginal games, a session with the didgeridoo, spear and boomerang throwing lessons and a team building activity based around boomerang painting.

Understanding the need to keep conference programs cost effective, a great two hour cultural energiser in the form of a Round-Robin team building activity is offered that combines 30 minutes on each of four activities from the above list for $75 per person.

In addition to Indigenous Encounters, Ayers Rock Resort now offers conference organisers a CSR educational component to their program. This offers delegates a deeper understanding into the Indigenous Training and Development activities that are carried out through the National Indigenous Training Academy (NITA) as well as the efforts of the Mutitjulu Foundation. A 30-60 minute presentation hosted by the management team and a traditional Anangu owner gives the opportunity to learn about specific community projects, training initiatives and interaction with an Anangu representative.

"The positive response from conference delegates to the trial of this presentation was so strong that we knew it would be a successful regular option," said Ray.