THE State Government has committed $100,000 for a study to review Dinner Plain’s seasonal offerings, to maximise visitation to the alpine village year round.
Mount Hotham Chamber of Commerce president Steve Belli said Dinner Plain was a unique environment within the Alpine Shire with opportunities for attracting tourists to the area, which the Dinner Plain Case and Visitor Economy Impact Study will consider.
“Dinner Plain is almost a pseudo alpine resort; we get snow, snow clearing and operations, operate a lift and toboggan areas in winter,” he said.
“Because of that we attract some clientele who are specifically here for snow and over the years the market has changed and increased so we need to make sure we have the right facilities.
“Capacity is very high, as it is with other alpine resorts...we see people coming up for the day and using the facilities but not necessarily staying so it’s about converting some of that business into stays as well.
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“We’re looking at how we promote the new snowmaking that’s going in for next season, what markets we go after, how it’s run, what facilities are needed.
“It’s also about working out the green season (autumn, spring and summer visitation).
“We have Club Wyndham’s 30-odd houses here, their only winter resort in Australia, which brings in new visitation so we need to make sure we look after those people and give them things to do over summer.
“We want to encourage the market to stay a little longer, and then returns in winter.
“We really have some unique opportunities here so it’s important we work with council and community to identify those and to put some strategies in place moving forward.”
Despite the Dinner Plain Activation project delivering some infrastructure works in recent years, Mr Belli said the rate of visitation is moving quicker than current projects.
“Things have started happening already, with renovations at Scrubbers Hut and some landscaping and car parking going in prior to next season, but government funding is drying up,” he said.
“The green season needs a bit of work in terms of being able to attract some more events up here.
"We find we’ve got a lot of capacity in accommodation during green season that isn’t utilised.
“We want to make sure it’s affordable and modify activities and events around a lower cost base to attract people to come up the mountain.
“It’s great to see we’ve been successful in this funding so we can do some proper planning.”
