Campaign for forwarding the Mount Buffalo National Park onto the international tourism scene

Tuesday, June 18, 2019

A grassroots campaign, based in north-east Victoria, working to move forward the Mount Buffalo National Park onto the international tourism arena has received much-needed state funding for advancement of the project.

The Alpine Shire Council, where the park is located, has received $200 000 from the Victorian Government to carry out an achievability study on the development of year-round tourism experiences at Mount Buffalo.

The 27, 471 hectare alpine park is the oldest National Park in Victoria, attracting 181, 000 visitors per year, featuring sheer cliffs, hosting recreational activities like kayaking, camping, and hiking, and boasting native and distinctive flora and fauna, including dingos.

It also is home to the 110-year-old heritage listed Mount Buffalo Chalet- Australia’s largest timber building, which has earned the nickname ‘The Grand Old Lady’ from the generations who have visited.

However, a recent report by Management and Economics Advisory Firm, Aalto, shows a lack of tourism yield to put in the development and protection of the National Park.

It’s been a decade since the Chalet stopped operating, and the building has rapidly declined in the harsh Alpine conditions, prompting the drive by North East Victorian residents to try to save the mothballed building and turn the region into a world-class tourism destination.

Residents living in the shadow of the mighty Mount Buffalo know that an international tourism attraction can’t be created overnight.

In 2015, a group of residents met with the Victorian Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Water, in order to save the fading Chalet, prompting the formation of the Mount Buffalo Destination Advisory Group, which has been designated to work with Parks Victoria to secure a viable future for the Chalet.

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