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THE ALPINE
BRIGHT - POREPUNKAH - MT BEAUTY - TAWONGA - TAWONGA SOUTH Wednesday, August 17, 2022
Phone: (03) 5752 1058
www.alpineobserver.com.au
CANCER CAUSE
SPEED REDUCTIONS
BRIGHT FOOTBALL
Lory on a mission
Slow down in Mt Beauty
Semi-final showdown
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SPORT
Winter business booming Resorts’ visitation spike p aids towns
AUSSIE SUPERSTAR HEADING TO TOWN ARIA award-winning musician Jessica Mauboy will be headlining a day-long festival at Bright’s Pioneer Park in November. • STORY PAGE 3
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BUSINESSES are reporting high customer numbers in Bright and Mount Beauty, with business leaders attributing the increase to the record visitor levels at snow resorts. Bright and District Chamber of Commerce president David Chitty said Bright has had more visitors this winter than before the COVID-19 pandemic, and suggested the town was seeing more newcomers to the snow. “There’s a lot of people that normally don’t travel at this time of the year that have said, ‘we’re going to get out, we’re going to visit the alps, we’re going to go and at least throw a snowball and ride a toboggan’,” he said. “Bright is an attractive location for them to do this.” Mr Chitty also attributed the increase in numbers to the work of the chamber of commerce and the Alpine Shire Council, and said they have worked with Tourism North East and Mount Buffalo businesses to market the area as a winter destination. Glenys Peacock, president of the Mount Beauty and District Chamber of Commerce, agreed the boom was down to high numbers at the snowfields, and suggested accommodation and hospitality venues were particularly doing well. Ms Peacock runs a ski hire shop and cafe and could personally attest to the high numbers of customers. “It’s the busiest we’ve ever been,” she said. Kellie Gray, owner of Dickens Real Estate in Bright, estimated their short-term occupancy rates are up
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50 per cent on pre-pandemic levels. “Traditionally we’d just get the weekend stays, but now we’re finding people are staying longer,” she said. “Usually it’d be about half of our portfolio, but three quarters are full each weekend.” Georgia Monshing, owner of Porepunkah Ski Hire, said they’ve had more customers this season than before the COVID-19 pandemic, and the store has remained busy during the week and in between school holidays. “It’s been a better season than we could ever imagine,” she said. “Everyone’s just itching to get out and do everything - it’s definitely busier than before.” Mt Hotham and Falls Creek are on track to break visitation records this winter, according to statistics from the Victorian Resorts Co-ordinating Council. As of August 7, 124,227 people had visited Mt Hotham this year, compared to 67,610 visitors at this time in 2019. Similarly, Falls Creek has had 102,946 visitors as of August 7, compared to 79,338 at this time in 2019. The statistics, which go back to 2012, show that neither resort has had triple-figure visitation numbers by this time of year until 2022.