Push for caravan park providers
Caravan park industry body launches program to promote regions that provide 'appropriate' RV camping facilitiesThe City of Greater Geelong in Victoria has thrown its support behind a new program designed to promote towns and regions with “appropriate” RV camping facilities.
Set up by the Victorian Caravan Parks Association (VicParks), the new Community Welcomes Recreational Vehicles program is a “nationally supported program (that) seeks to highlight towns, destinations and regions that actively encourage recreational vehicle (RV) travellers to visit them”.
The move follows the recent announcement of a ban on non-compliant freedom camping in the Geelong region, in support of local accommodation providers including caravan parks.
VicParks hopes to encourage other councils with suitable caravan park facilities to join the free program.
“The RV market is booming in Australia and this program will allow local councils to capitalise on this growth while offering a better travel experience for consumers,” said VicParks CEO Elizabeth White.
“The VicParks Community Welcomes Recreational Vehicles program is designed to provide a consistent welcoming message to RV travellers across the country. It includes a template sign for councils to display on the entrance to town, which will indicate to RV travellers that the area provides appropriate RV facilities,” she said.
With around 2000 'official' camping sites the Executive Director of Tourism Greater Geelong and The Bellarine, Roger Grant, said the region is “well placed to embrace this wonderful new initiative. Our region attracts over five million visitors annually and we are well supported with numerous holiday parks of outstanding quality”.
However, speaking at the recent VicParks’ annual conference, Grant said that "not all tourism is good tourism", and that non-compliant freedom camping is banned in the region because it’s in direct competition with commercial caravan parks.
According to the GoSeeAustralia website, Grant said the 26 caravan parks in the region invest upwards of $100,000 on development and maintenance of their parks to ensure compliance.
Other contributing factors in Geelong/Bellarine adopting a no non-compliant freedom camping policy include “local disruption and annoyance caused by freedom campers, major financial implications and environmental impacts”.
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