Len Tuit

Leonard Roy Tuit or Len Tuit (1911–1976) was a pioneer in Central Australian road transport and tourism and is credited as being the first person to recognised the tourism potential of Uluru.

Early life

Tuit was born at Prospect in South Australia in 1911 and is the son of Clarence and Olive Tuit.

Life in the Northern Territory

Tuit arrived in Alice Springs in 1932 after an eleven-day journey in a Diamond T truck and started doing contract driver work for David Baldock, primarily driving between Alice Springs and Tennant Creek, which he did for the next three years.

In 1936 Tuit established his own business after acquiring a Ford V8 transporting perishables to the remote mining communities at The Granites and Tanami. Tuit would continue to take occasional tours to Uluru and he, and his wife Pearl, lobbied the government to have Central Australia promoted as a tourist destination; the government was determined that "there was no future in tourism for the NT" and that Uluru, then known as Ayers Rock, would be seen only as a "lump of rock". By 1958 Tuit was taking 2,000 people to Uluru. this was finalised by 3 December 1954. Reasons for the collapse of this partnership are speculative but presumed to be based around differing personalities and approaches.

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