By ELEANOR BLACK
After surviving volcanic eruptions and years of light snow, Ohakune is battling again - this time against a Commerce Commission decision which threatens the town's marketing plans.
The preliminary decision rejects the merger of the Whakapapa and Turoa ski resorts because of potential weakening of competition in the North Island ski market, and price hikes for ski packages.
But residents of Ohakune, the small community that services Turoa, say they will continue to fight for a merger that they believe will help the flagging local economy.
Mt Ruapehu primarily attracts weekend skiers from Auckland and Wellington but the industry hopes to lure the "long-stay" holidaymakers who now head to the South Island.
Skiers who make use of the mountain are also disappointed by the commission's stance. Dave Scott, of the Turoa Alpine Ski Club, says Ruapehu Alpine Lifts, the company that runs Whakapapa and plans to take over Turoa in November, offers a unique approach to the management of the resorts because, as a trust, it ploughs its profits back.
"Skiers are looking for better facilities and shorter queues. With RAL, you know [any profit] goes back to the skier."
Local tourism operators are angry at intervention by outsiders.
"It's an absolute nonsense that a bunch of Wellington bureaucrats can act to inhibit the progress this region is investing in," said John McCarthy, chairman of the promotion body Ohakune 2000.
"I'm not blaming the Commerce Commission. I understand they have a very finite set of rules they can operate in.
"But you could argue Mt Hutt has a particularly dominant position in the ski market and a North Island merger would be the first step in levelling the playing field."
Commission executive Geoff Thorn said the watchdog had weighed the potential benefits and losses to the community and the ski industry when making its decision but he admitted there was no formula for assessing economic impact.
The commission found there would be economic detriments of between $764,000 and $3,380,000 annually if the merger were allowed.
This compared unfavourably with estimated benefits of $401,000 to $1,743,434.
RAL chairman Tomas Huppert and the receiver for the financially crippled Turoa Ski Resort, Gary Traveller, were not surprised at the commission's interim decision.
However, Mr Huppert said, "We have received a near-universal positive, supportive reaction from North Island skiers and snowboarders.
"We are still confident of a successful outcome."
Ski town battles merger rejection
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