No snow chill for business

By Dion Teasdale
POOR snowfalls at Lake Mountain Alpine Resort and in the Yarra Ranges National Park have triggered a dramatic downturn in local tourism.
The lack of snow since the season’s official opening over the Queen’s Birthday weekend in June has seen visitor numbers to Lake Mountain and Mt Donna Buang drop by two-thirds on numbers from the 2004 season.
Neighbouring towns such as Marysville and Warburton, which usually enjoy a surge in visitation throughout the snow season, are also reporting close to a 70 per cent drop in visitor numbers on figures from two years ago.
Lake Mountain Alpine Resort chief executive Richard Rogerson said poor snow coverage meant the resort also had to cut its staffing levels by two-thirds.
“So far this has been a terrible season,” he said.
“I’ve been involved up here since 1981 and this is one of the worst snow seasons I’ve ever witnessed.
“To date we’ve had only two natural snowfalls and the biggest was only about 20 centimetres.
“Normally at this time of year we would be expecting a metre of snow.”
Mr Rogerson said visitor numbers to Lake Mountain were dramatically down on figures from two years ago.
“At the same time of year in 2004 we’d had over 100,000 visitors up here, and this year we’ve only had about 30,000,” he said.
“Usually at this time of year we employ more than 150 people but right now we’ve got less than 50 people.”
Mr Rogerson said the poor snow conditions would be having a definite impact of other tourism operators in the region.
“The conditions have been devastating for the local tourism industry,” he said.
“There are 3000 tourism beds in and around Marysville and a lot of operators rely on the snow at Lake Mountain to draw people at this time of year.
“I know a lot of businesses will be suffering at the moment. I think most tourism businesses will be really feeling the pinch.”
Mr Rogerson said there were nine ski hire outlets between Narbethong and Marysville that catered specifically for Lake Mountain visitors.
“I expect they will be suffering right now along with the restaurants and the bed and breakfast operators,” he said.
Warburton Highway Tourism president Baden Berry said visitor figures for the Upper Yarra were also troubling.
“The general feedback we are getting from tourism operators is that visitor numbers are down by at least half on the same time last year,” he said.
“The bad thing about this is that last year saw a 50 per cent drop on the 2004 season, so there is a downward trend.”
Mr Berry said there had been a decline in sightseeing and snowplay activities at Mount Donna Buang.
“There has been very little snow this year and as a result people are staying away in droves,” he said.
Mr Berry said there a lot of uncertainty among Warburton Highway tourism operators.
“Some people are saying this is just a bumpy patch and things will get better, but others are saying if things don’t improve in the short term they might have to get out of the industry,” he said.
Both Mr Rogerson and Mr Berry said other factors, such as the current price of petrol and recent interest rate rises, had also impacted on poor visitor numbers over recent months.