Strong growth for Campervan Club

If you needed any more evidence that grey nomads are a driving force in domestic travel, then take a look at the Campervan and Motorhome Club of Australia (CMCA), which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.

With around 60,000 members, the club is by far the biggest of its type in Australia, and membership continues to grow at a rapid rate. According to CMCA spokesperson, Caroline Dando, membership is currently growing by up to 15 per cent annually, compared to an historical rate of four per cent.

"We average 800 new members a month... and it’s expected to continue and take over that level of growth as baby boomers are hitting retirement age," she said.

Dando said that being a CMCA member has a number of benefits, including access to a motorhome-specific insurance scheme, 12 club magazines a year plus an annual publication with information on motorhome-friendly campsites and dump points.

It also provides access to a large network of like-minded travellers, through participation in the club’s website forum, rallies and local chapter meetings.

To qualify for full membership, members must own a campervan, motorhome, slide-on or fifth-wheeler. The cost is a one-off $16.50 plus a $44 annual fee.

The club has around 28,000 motorhomes amongst its membership, as well as a number of caravans owned by associate members.

The CMCA is very active politically in promoting the interests of its members, and is behind a number of successful initiatives including the RV Friendly Town Scheme, which encourages towns to provide cheap overnight parking for motorhomes, and Leave No Trace, a code of conduct for self-contained vehicles.

The club is also currently looking at setting up a network of free camp sites similar to a scheme that runs in New Zealand.

"We’re working with government to try and have low or no-cost rest areas and camp sites to open up because of so many of our members are self-contained; they don’t need a lot of facilities or infrastructure," Dando said.

"In March we convened a meeting of RV hire companies and government bodies to set up an RV camping forum just to discuss issues relating to RV tourism and how we can improve things for all aspects of RV tourism including the backpacker market."

The club’s 25th Anniversary rally in Deniliquin last month, attracted 1130 motorhomes and more than 2000 members. It’s a far cry from the original event, organised by club founders Don and Erica Whitworth, which attracted 42 camper vans.

With more than 1000 motorhomes occupying an area of around 50 acres, the rally is estimated to bring an economic benefit to the local community of around $5-6 million. The next CMCA rally is in Kalgoorlie in October followed by one in Sale in 2012.

As part of its 25th anniversary celebrations, the club has created some special merchandise available to members and has also republished Don Whitworth’s book 'For the Love of Motorhoming’. As the book only covers the club’s history up until around 1995, an updated version of the book including more recent history, is planned for release later this year.