Smoke-free caravan parks run out of puff

Cigarette smokers are more welcome at caravan parks than dog owners, despite caravanners in general smoking less but tending to travel more with their furry friends.

Ignoring government and societal pressure to ban cigarette smokers from lighting up in most public places, it seems the vast majority of caravan and holiday parks in Australia are largely tolerant of the 'cancer sticks'.

A spokesperson for Australia’s largest caravan park network, which includes around 250 Top and Discovery-branded parks, told caravancampingsales that “none of the parks in either the Discovery Parks or Top Parks networks are smoke free”.

Elizabeth White, the CEO of the Victorian Caravan Parks Association which “represents a significant share of the total number of caravan parks in Victoria” according to its website, said the Association does “not hold any statistics on the number of smoke-free parks in Victoria”.

However, White did add that smoking bans prevented lighting up in specific areas of all parks, regardless of individual park policies.

“The Victorian government has legislation in place to restrict smoking near the service of food in outdoor dining areas, which of course applies to caravan parks also,” she said.

Among the handful of Australia caravan parks that have gone completely ‘smoke free’ include North Star Holiday Resort at Hastings Point, NSW which banned cigarettes in 2016, while the BIG4 Beacon Resort in Queenscliff, Victoria is also anti-smoking.

BIG4 Beachlands Holiday Park in Busselton, Western Australia, went totally smoke-free back in 2008 after owner Gavin Farrell got fed up with smokers puffing away with little regard for other travellers.

“One Easter we had two groups in side by side and all they did was just smoke, it was disgusting. We had a few complaints and so we decided to go fully smoke free,” he explained.

The smoking ban extends inside as well as outside caravans and campers and includes e-cigarettes, with a spot near the park’s entrance set aside for those who want to light up.

“You’ll get the odd one (breaking the rules) but we make it clear on our website we’re a non-smoking park," Farrell said. "If people roll up and they didn’t realise we just give their money back. We’ve probably done it three times in 11 years."

He said the smoking ban has been good for business.

“We have a lot of people coming because we’re non-smoking… it hasn’t affected business at all, if anything being a family park we’ve grown in that area."

“It won’t be long and a lot of the parks will go (smoke free),” he said. “It’s so engrained now that smokers have to smoke in designated areas, so it’s not hard to implement, and it’s well received.’

The changes appear to be happening faster in New Zealand, where the government is pushing for a smoke-free country by 2025.

Kennedy Park Resort Napier on New Zealand’s North Island recently announced it would go “smoke free”, after installing a free electric vehicle charger for guests earlier this year.

“This is part of our sustainable and guest well-being practice. We are happy to support the New Zealand Government’s goal of a smoke-free country by 2025,” Kennedy Park Manager David Aflallo said.

“Society in general is becoming very health conscious, and we need to move with this and support the health and comfort of our guests.”

Caravan Industry Association of Australia CEO Stuart Lamont said that unlike in Australia, the number of smoke-free parks in New Zealand is “being driven by legislative change rather than societal norms".

“(That's) notwithstanding the early adopters (in Australia that) see it as a competitive advantage to get in early, based on their own views," Lamont said.