Voyages Hotels and Resorts Pty Ltd - s.87B undertaking

Voyages Hotels and Resorts Pty Ltd, the operator of Ayers Rock Resort in the Northern Territory, has provided an undertaking pursuant to section s87B of the Act as part of an overall settlement package. Voyages promoted tours to Yulara Pulka, Aboriginal land near Uluru, on the internet and in tourist brochures, when they had no permission to enter the land or conduct the tours.

Voyages undertakes that it will not represent:

• that it is entitled to conduct tours to Yulara Pulka
  
  
• that a person on a tour to Yulara Pulka promoted by Voyages as part of the Longitude 131º accommodation packages or as part of tour packages from Ayers Rock Resort will be taken into Yulara and
  
  
• that persons on a Yulara Pulka tour are permitted to enter Yulara Pulka with the tour
  

Voyages also undertook to implement and maintain for a period of not less than two years a Trade Practices Compliance Program in respect of s52 and s53 of the Trade Practices Act.

The Federal Court in Darwin declared that Voyages engaged in conduct that was misleading and deceptive by promoting tours to Yulara Pulka when they had no permission to enter or conduct the tours. Voyages did not have the required permit from the Central Land Council under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act to allow entry into Yulara Pulka nor did they have an agreement with the Aboriginal people to conduct tours to their homeland. Voyages was also ordered to pay costs of $45000.