Leonard Roy Tuit or Len Tuit (1911–1976) was a pioneer in

Central Australian Central Australia, also sometimes referred to as the Red Centre, is an inexactly defined region associated with the geographic centre of Australia. In its narrowest sense it describes a region that is limited to the town of Alice Springs and ...

road transport and tourism and is credited as being the first person to recognised the tourism potential of

Uluru Uluru (; ), also known as Ayers Rock ( ) and officially gazetted as UluruAyers Rock, is a large sandstone monolith. It outcrop, crops out near the centre of Australia in the southern part of the Northern Territory, south-west of Alice Spri ...

Early life

Tuit was born at

Prospect Prospect may refer to: General * Prospect (marketing), a marketing term describing a potential customer * Prospect (sports), any player whose rights are owned by a professional team, but who has yet to play a game for the team * Prospect (minin ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

in 1911 and is the son of Clarence and Olive Tuit.

Life in the Northern Territory

Tuit arrived in

Alice Springs Alice Springs () is a town in the Northern Territory, Australia; it is the third-largest settlement after Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin and Palmerston, Northern Territory, Palmerston. The name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William ...

in 1932 after an eleven-day journey in a

Diamond T The Diamond T Company was an American automobile and truck manufacturer. They produced commercial and military trucks. History The Diamond T Motor Car Company was founded in Chicago in 1905 by C. A. Tilt. Reportedly, the company name was creat ...

truck and started doing contract driver work for David Baldock, primarily driving between Alice Springs and

Tennant Creek Tennant Creek () is a town located in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is the Northern Territory#Cities and towns, seventh largest town in the Northern Territory, and is located on the Stuart Highway, just south of the intersection with ...

, which he did for the next three years. In 1936 Tuit established his own business after acquiring a

Ford V8 Ford engines are those used in Ford Motor Company vehicles and in aftermarket, sports and kit applications. Different engine ranges are used in various global markets. 3 cylinder A series of Ford DOHC 12-valve straight-three engines with Twin Ind ...

transporting perishables to the remote mining communities at The Granites and Tanami. In 1937 Tuit's first wife died following a long illness. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Tuit was the major civilian transport link between Alice Springs and Birdum as well as continuing, under military supervision, to supply mining communities; now including the mica mines at Wauchope and Hatches Creek. In 1939 Tuit married Pearl Arthur (née Brandt) and adopted her son Malcolm, from her previous marriage. Following the War Tuit won a five-year mail contract after proving that he could transport the mail between Alice Springs and Darwin in three days, which was faster than the

Commonwealth Railways The Commonwealth Railways were established in 1917 by the Government of Australia with the Commonwealth Railways Act to administer the Trans-Australian Railway, Trans-Australia and Adelaide-Darwin railway, Port Augusta to Darwin railways. In 1 ...

(from Birdum to Darwin). He combined the mail run with a passenger service, in a modified K5 International and it was known as 'The Butterbox'. The truck was very basic and was fitted with bench seats and had a canvas canopy and it would not have been an easy trip for its passengers. Tuit's first experience with tourism was taking students from Alice Springs to Palm Valley in 1944 and, in 1950, he took the first ever tour group, from

Knox Grammar School Knox Grammar School is an independent Uniting Church day and boarding school for boys, located in Wahroonga, New South Wales, an Upper North Shore suburb of Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1924 by the Presbyterian Church of Australia as an all- ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

to Uluru (within what is now the

Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park is a protected area in the Northern Territory of Australia. The park is home to both Uluru and Kata Tjuta. It is located south of Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin by road and south-west of Alice Springs al ...

). 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". The Tuit's persisted and they were granted the first tourist lease in 1953 and, by 1955, were offering regular tours there. These early tours could carry approximately 20 passengers and the only accommodation was tents with an ex-army marquee set up as a dining and store room. By 1958 Tuit was taking 2,000 people to Uluru. Because of the success in the tourism side of the business, which also more suited his free spirit Tuit gave up, and sold his interest, in the transport side of the business. Tuit and Bert Bond, another Central Australian tour operator, were fierce competitors and they each maintained an arduous schedule to attract passengers. In 1952 the two men decided to merge their businesses and, on 16 October 1953, the

Centralian Advocate The ''Centralian Advocate'' was an Australian regional online newspaper based at Alice Springs, Northern Territory. The ''Centralian Advocate'' is part of News Corp Australia, and serves under the ''Northern Territory News'' banner, containing ...

reported a parting of the ways and that the businesses would once again operate separately: 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. In 1957 Tuit bought Bond out when he left the Northern Territory in 1956 and, despite not wanting to, had to partner with Pioneer Tours due to financial difficulties. The business became 'Pioneer-Tuit Tours Ltd of Alice Springs'.

Later life

Tuit died on 15 May 1976 in

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Gallery

File:Jessie_May_Gunn_011.tif, A Tuit's tour bus in 1946 File:Roger Crowe 003.jpg, Photo from a Tuit's Tour, 1947 File:Roger Crowe 009.jpg, Tuit's Depot, c. 1950s File:Roger Crowe 007.jpg, A Tuit vehicle acting as a mail contractor, pictured outside the Alice Springs Post Office, c. 1950s File:Roger Crowe 001.jpg, 8-seater Jeep, a part of Tuit's Coach Services, bogged in Finke River, c. 1957 File:Roger Crowe 005.jpg, The Darwin service operated by Tuit in 1957 File:Roger Crowe 006.jpg, A Tuit's bus at Emily Gap (Anthwerrke), c. 1957 File:Roger Crowe 012.jpg, A Tuit's bus in the late 1950s

References

External links

National Road Transport Hall of Fame: Len Tuit
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tuit, Len 1911 births 1976 deaths People from Alice Springs Australian hospitality businesspeople