Providing excellent services to visitors and supporting operators is fundamental in ARV’s approach to resort management, as well as a part of its mandate under the Alpine Resorts (Management) Act 1997.
ARV is committed to supporting the resort stakeholders and partners to deliver alpine experiences that meet the needs of current visitors and emerging markets.
Changing operations at Lake Mountain
Lake Mountain implemented significant operational changes during 2024 to work towards being financially sustainable and decrease the outstanding deficit.
Leading into winter 2024, the resort moved from a sevenday per week operation to five days, closing on Tuesdays and Wednesdays (outside school holiday periods) which were historically the quietest days in-resort. This enabled better staff allocation and a better guest experience while also being more cost-effective.
The resort maintained its same share of the Victorian alpine resort visitor market despite these closures, so this operational change did not impact demand.
Another significant change in operations was the introduction of ticketed tobogganing. This revenue enabled additional investment to enhance the visitor experience, including infrastructure, signage and extra staff to better support guests.
A new cloud-based point-of-sale system, Lightspeed, was also introduced across the resort.
Visitor satisfaction – Post-departure survey
ARV conducts an annual survey with people who have visited our resorts during the white season to understand their needs and so we can continue to offer a high-quality experience.
This survey captures key components of the guest journey, from planning to future intentions. The findings provide a snapshot of the visitor experience, enabling ARV to understand the resorts’ strengths and weaknesses, and supports strategic planning for the future.
Falls Creek, Mt Hotham, Lake Mountain and Mt Baw Baw participate in the survey. Mt Buller and Mt Stirling undertake a separate survey in conjunction with Buller Ski Lifts, and as such Mt Buller and Mt Stirling results are captured outside of ARV’s dataset.
All resort visitors that purchased a resort entry permit were sent an online survey link post-departure. In 2024, 3323 surveys were returned, with 38% of visitors from Mt Hotham and Falls Creek, 16% from Lake Mountain and 8% from Mt Baw Baw.
Results are compared year-on-year for trends in satisfaction and the findings used to inform enhancements to visitor services.
Falls creek festival
A mainstay feature on the Falls Creek green season event calendar is FEASTIVAL Falls Creek, a three-day festival featuring 10 hours of live music, live comedy, wellbeing activities, art exhibition, arts and craft workshops and a degustation lunch at the award-winning Astra Hotel.
After the event was cancelled in 2023 due to the landslide cutting off resort access, FEASTIVAL returned for a second successful year in 2024.
The event featured such icons of Australian music as Ball Park Music, Holy Holy, Thelma Plum and The Grogans. It attracted more than 1600 people who stayed in accommodation, enjoyed the hospitality of the local restaurants and took in the breathtaking views.
This event focused on driving visitation into the resort during the green season, outside of school holidays and long weekends. It required partnerships with key government stakeholders including Visit Victoria, the State Government and Tourism North East. It could not be run without the participation of business operators, not only from Falls Creek but the north-east region.
Mt Stirling
Mt Stirling enhanced its green season offering during the year with gravel trail bike riding and infrastructure installed at Telephone Box Junction. This included a water fill point, bike rack, tools and signage.
Mt Stirling’s Circuit Road was subsequently listed as one of the top 10 gravel rides in north-east Victoria by Tourism North East in 2024.
The King Saddle area was re-developed by ARV staff to include a new fireplace and landscaping. This was a popular location for visitors during winter as a transport hub for visitors accessing the snowline and as a secondary tobogganing and snowplay area.
Environmental management is a key priority for Stirling staff. The Alby’s Pond area was cleared of a willow tree infestation, with more than 300 trees removed. Four snow gum saplings were planted around the summit in April.
These were propagated at ARV’s Alpine Nursery from Stirling’s iconic summit tree. The 352-hectare environmental offset site on Mt Stirling’s summit was deemed compliant for the previous year by state and federal environmental authorities.
A $7000 grant enabled a trial of additional electrical appliances to be undertaken at Telephone Box Junction. ARV has planned to remove LPG as a source of energy for the resort in 2025.
| Enhance the visitor experience | ||
|---|---|---|
| Visitor satisfaction with diversity of visitor experiences available in resort* | 61% satisfied | |
| Visitor satisfaction with ease of purchasing gate entry* | 83% satisfied | |
| Visitor satisfaction with public facilities for visitors (toilets, public shelters, information) | 70% satisfied | |
Page last updated: 21/04/26