Contents

• Village transport news
• Essential Safety Measures workshop  
• Reminder about snowmobile use
• TSAA Marketing campaign update
• Positive reviews on Facebook
• Facebook events and co-hosting
• Recycling continues as normal
• Interactions with snow clearing machinery
• TNE imagery workshop in Bright 
• Regional Tourism Review
• Parks Victoria seeking feedback

Village transport news

A change that has been made to the Village bus service this year is that some priority buses have been added to the schedule, for example buses to transport staff in the mornings.

If a bus passes your stop, please check the electronic signage on the bus - it's not that the driver has passed you by, it's more likely to be a priority staff bus, or an extra bus being hurried to Hotham Central to deal with a peak period.

During peak periods we also have RMB staff managing loading at Hotham Central, to get the maximum safe load onto the bus. We have appreciated guest and locals' support and patience during these times for a stress-free experience, 

Essential safety measures workshop

Come along and hear from MHARMB's experts about what you need to do to ensure you are on top of your Essential Safety Measures compliance.

Essential Safety Measures Workshop 1

• Date: Monday 16 September 2019
• Time: 10:00am – 11:30am
• Venue: Mt Hotham ARMB Board Room

This is the first of a few workshops to assist stakeholders with their Essential Safety Measures obligations.

RSVPs are essential! Please email Kerry Kondraschek at  property@mthotham.com.au by 10 September 2019 as places are limited.

Reminder about snowmobile use

A friendly reminder to all about the correct use of oversnow transport including snowmobiles, under the terms of the permits issued at Mt Hotham.

There have been recent instances of snowmobiles being used for convenience or “joy-riding”. This is strictly against MHRMB oversnow policy and oversnow permit conditions.

Some of these instances have resulted in damage to oversnow and cross-country trails.

Oversnow permits are provided to assist in the operations of businesses on the mountain and are not to be used for any other purpose. Permit conditions are in place to ensure safety and minimise the risk of accident and injury.

If we believe there has been use that breaches the permit conditions, we reserve the right to withdraw the oversnow permit.

Please help us by ensuring all staff who operate snowmobiles understand and comply with the permit conditions.

True Spirit of Alpine Australia – 2019 Marketing Campaign update

Our award-winning marketing campaign, Hotham – True Spirit of Alpine Australia, has been back in full swing this year.

The objective of the campaign is to market Hotham as a destination to complement Ski Co’s product marketing, and to provide a platform for our on-mountain businesses to market their products and services.

Our marketing campaign also works in with a new campaign being run by Tourism North East, focusing on filling availability in the quieter mid-week times.

We are continuing to use a mix of inspiring creative and great offers from our on-mountain businesses to attract visitors.  Social media is a big focus and an effective way for us to communicate with both our loyal visitors and new audiences. The campaign is also active in radio (Nova FM, Smooth FM), TV, email and for the first time, cinema – just imagine how awesome our mountain looks on the big screen!  

Our website visitation has increased by more than 40% compared to last year, including a growing number of new visitors and female visitors (don’t worry – we’re not telling them about your favourite secret spots to get some fresh tracks!). This is great news as it shows that our message is getting through to the right people. 

Our focus for the remainder of the 2019 season is to drive visitation through the generally quieter mid-week and September periods.

Positive reviews on Facebook 

We're keen to keep our Mt Hotham RMB Facebook page engaging and balanced in the views presented. If you have visitors who have had a great experience at Hotham, we'd love your support in encouraging them to share that experience by providing a review on our Facebook page.  See the link to the Facebook page below.

Facebook events - add us as a co-host!

We want to cater to the sector of our increasingly mobile audience who rely on social media for notification about what's happening at Hotham.

We've used the Facebook Events function more this season to raise awareness of on-mountain events, with the added benefit that users are provided with reminders about these events and don't have to search for information about them.

If you add a Hotham event to your Facebook profile, please consider adding @mthotham.rmb as a co-host, so the event appears automatically to people following our profile. This is better than us adding the event separately, because it means that if you post updates in your event or change any details, our audience will see them too. 

Recycling in North East Victoria continues as normal

Recycling is continuing as normal at Mt Hotham despite disruptions that have occurred in other parts of the state.

Residents may have heard that 33 councils around Victoria have been affected by the closure and legal decisions affecting SKM recycling services.

Mt Hotham has not been affected and continues to recycle material as normal.

Keep recycling as normal

There is no impact on the collection of household recycling bins. Residents should continue to put their recyclables into the supplied recycling bags then into the rubbish hutches as normal.

We have a great record when it comes to recycling and it’s important to continue to carefully separate recyclables from non-recyclable materials and place them in the correct bag.

What you can do

It is now more critical than ever for residents to correctly sort their recycling for collection. Residents can also try to minimise the amount of waste they produce in the first place – shop smart and avoid unnecessary packaging. Using reusable drink bottles and coffee cups are great ways to start.

We urge all residents to check with us if you are not sure about what can and cannot be recycled in our area.

There are four ways residents can help:

• Continue to recycle as normal. We will inform you of any changes in your collection service.
• Know what you can and can’t recycle.  If in doubt, find out.  
• Prevent waste from the start.  Try to limit how much you recyclable material you buy.
• Buy Australian recycled products. Recycled office paper and toilet paper are easy ways to start.

Interactions with Snow Clearing Machinery

Hotham is unique in many ways, and one of these unique aspects is the location of a major arterial road - the Great Alpine Road - bisecting the village.

One of the challenges MHARMB has is clearing the road and carparks of snow in the village. Typically snow clearing is done at night when pedestrian and skier traffic is at a minimum. However due to unpredictable weather, often snow clearing equipment is needed to be used in busy areas during the day.

We would like to make all mountain staff, as well as guests aware of how to interact safely around snow clearing machinery. It would be appreciated if you could pass this information on to your guests. The following points will help our machinery operators work with your movements in the village:

• Never attempt to walk or run past the rear of a moving machine;
• Obtain eye contact with the operator before passing the machine;
• Don’t assume that the machine operator has seen you – wait until the machine has stopped and the operator has waved you past;
• Remain aware of the machine’s movements at all times.

TNE imagery workshop in Bright - Tues 3 Sept

Tourism North East are running the second instalment of their "Creating Engaging Imagery" workshop in Bright on Tuesday 3 September.

This will build on the knowledge presented in part one.

The session will take the raw video footage captured and show you how to use a simple free source web tool to edit your video clips together including adding still images, special effects and teach you how to save the material ready for sharing on a variety of different platforms.

Participants should bring a laptop and their smart phone to the session.

Regional Tourism Review - last chance to provide input!

Regional tourism has a significant role to play in creating more jobs for more Victorians, supporting thriving regions and strengthening inclusive communities. That’s why we want to do all we can to provide our regions the best support and opportunities to grow the benefits of visitation and boost local businesses.

The Regional Tourism Review is about finding new ways to support tourism in regional Victoria, enhance private investment and create more regional jobs. The review will help us understand how to leverage local strengths, support communities and increase visitation.

Submissions are due by Friday 30 August.

Parks Victoria seeking community feedback

Parks Victoria is inviting the community to help shape the long-term future of Victoria’s natural landscapes, by providing feedback into the first stage of its Land Management Strategy.

The Strategy will set out the long‑term direction and priorities for the protection, management and use of Parks Victoria managed land. It will outline how the management and resourcing of Victoria’s parks will change and adapt over time and will be used to guide planning and decision-making.

People can provide feedback online until Sunday 29 September, 2019 at the link below.