Grey nomads drive away from Queensland

The mining boom is helping to squeeze out RV travellers in rural Australia as demand increases for overnight rest-stops.

The general manager of the Campervan and Motorhome Club of Australia (CMCA), Richard Barwick, said that caravan parks and other camping spots normally reserved for grey nomads are being filled up with transient workers from the mining sector, particularly in rural Queensland.

Barwick said the potential impact on Queensland tourism could be “enormous” if the accommodation issues weren’t resolved. As the “fastest growing sector in tourism” with up to 400,000 registered RVs in Australia, he said it’s increasingly important to have specific areas set aside for RV travellers, including “opening up showgrounds and race courses”.

“A large majority of the people who would like to get into a caravan park can’t do so because the mining sector has taken over,” Barwick told ABC Radio.

He said that RV travellers, including those with self-contained vehicles, are willing to pay an overnight fee of up to $25 for rest-stops, but they’ll only do this if facilities such as powered site, potable water, and dump points are provided.

“These black water disposal points are essential for RV travel, because (motorhomes) need to dispose generally every three to five days,” he said. “If these facilities are made available, more people will come.”

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CMCA has been behind a program that has resulted in almost 300 RV dump points located in towns around Australia, with many of these in Queensland.

He said RV travellers are an important contributor to local economies, with 12.5 percent of the 64,000 CMCA members on the road full-time; spending on average $572 a week while travelling.

“There are so many from the southern states, especially during that winter peak period down there, looking to come north,” he said. If regions, particularly in far north Queensland “are not accommodating they’ll go somewhere else”.

About 1100 motorhomes and campers have descended on the Queensland town of Boonah this week for the 27th CMCA National Rally, which has boosted the town's population by 2000 and will inject an estimated $2 million into local businesses.