John Huber, formerly General Manager - Operations and Commercial for Hamilton Island Enterprises, was today announced as the new chief executive of Mt Buller and Mt Stirling Alpine Resort Management Board (ARMB). He is expected to commence work in late November 2009, before a family holiday and starting full time in January 2010.

Chairman of the ARMB, Mr. John Dyson, is enthusiastic about the appointment that comes after an extensive and thorough recruitment process that identified over 70 national and international applications from a diverse and strong field of candidates.

"The whole Board interviewed Mr. Huber and all were impressed by the relevance of his experience to the chief executive role, his energy, grasp of the issues and commitment to customer service," Mr. Dyson said.

Mr. Huber is married with a young son, and the family will live in the Mt Buller Village full time during winter. A keen skier, Mr. Huber has visited Mt Buller a number of times as part of the recruitment process and is looking forward to the challenges the new role presents.

Originally from the United States, Mr. Huber was born in Boulder Colorado and skied with his family at Breckenridge where his family owned a condominium. Mr. Huber graduated with an Arts Degree from California State University where he attended on a sports scholarship for American Football. Mr. Huber has a background in tourism and hospitality. He's worked in Australia for the past sixteen years, twelve of them on Hamilton Island.

"Although a tropical island resort and an alpine resort couldn't appear more different, the Board was impressed by the similarities in operational and strategic issues that John faced in his position at Hamilton Island. They provide many of the same services as that provided by a municipality, dealing with seasonal visitation patterns, many passionate stakeholders and the impacts of climate change all within a sensitive environmental context," Mr. Dyson said.

Mr. Huber's key responsibilities on the island included managing the airport, marina, public transportation systems, emergency services, independent leases, licensed businesses and franchises as well as all the retail outlets and guest and community activities.

"We have offered John a three year contract and are looking forward to him settling in and assisting us to drive forward on a number of our key strategic priorities. I'm confident we have made a good decision and that John will bring passion, skills and leadership to the role.

"I want to thank our talented and dedicated executive team and all the staff for their hard work and support throughout the recruitment process. In particular I would like to thank Tony Peterson who has been working as Acting CEO for the past couple of months. His steady hand on the wheel has enabled everyone to get on with their jobs whether they be delivering a successful summer season or working toward the continuous improvement of our winter experience and resorts generally," Mr. Dyson said.

For more information:
John Dyson
Chair
Mt Buller and Mt Stirling Alpine Resort Management Board
Phone: 0419 343 364