A Strategic Approach to the Caravan and Camping Industry 2012

parks are the preferred permanent place of residence when off-site. This
accommodation arrangement is often much more cost effective than owning or
renting a property, which remains vacant for much of the year.
There are a number of “hot spots” or tourist destinations where there are insufficient
caravan and camping facilities to meet high seasonal demand. This leads to calls by
consumers and tourism organisations in those regions for new caravan parks to be
developed.
Many of the concerns raised by users centre over the quality of sites and facilities, as
well as the perceived lack of value for money on offer at prime coastal locations. The
demand peaks are most pronounced during July and August for tourism regions above
the 40 th parallel and in December and January in the southern coastal tourism
localities.
There is great evidence to suggest that there is in fact insufficient supply of caravan
and camping sites in key tourism locations. The high cost of land and competition from
higher yielding development options for coastal land has resulted in a reduction in
coastal caravan parks. This trend runs counter to consumer demand patterns.
Other caravan and camping tourism jurisdictions Australia are addressing the issue
with proposed legislation and policies. Some reports suggest that government
establish caravan parks at key locations as a matter of urgency and some contemplate
the purchase of existing private caravan parks when they are offer for sale to prevent
higher use redevelopment and loss of the caravan park. Another suggestion is the
purchase of caravan parks at such high demand locations to allow expansion through
the aggregation of adjoining land titles.
CMCA and other consumer groups are united with the caravan park industry on
seeking opportunities to spread demand in key locations over a longer season. This is
a marketing opportunity for local, regional and state tourism organisations.
The range of opportunities for travellers to enjoy caravan and camping based tourism
has expanded with the introduction of new products facilities and services offering
considerable choice. In addition to the traditional caravans and tents, new products
including off road caravans and camper trailers, purpose built self-contained caravans,
campervans, motorhomes, budget and luxury self-contained cabins and safari tents
have expanded the market.
Despite the intent of the caravan and camping legislation to create uniformity across
the State in terms of minimum facilities and licencing of caravan and camping
locations, consumers have established travel accommodation patterns that fall
outside current regulations. The use of roadside stops and rest areas, national parks
and other public and private property for camping is prevalent and the Caravan Parks
and Camping Grounds Regulations are not applied.
Main Roads has been proactive in developing roadside stops and rest areas in regional
areas. Its policy precludes the placement of roadside stops and rest areas near to
towns to avoid conflict with licenced caravan parks and unnecessary duplication of
facilities.
However, the trend for recreational vehicle owners to utilise rest areas for planned
camping in preference to using licenced facilities, impacts the availability of space in
rest areas for emergencies and fatigued drivers of heavy transport. Main Roads is
embarking on a pilot for the development of new and upgraded rest areas in the
Pilbara. It is proposed that these rest areas will have ablution facilities, which are likely
to attract more free-camping. Faced with a similar issue, the New Zealand government
recently introduced regulations to manage ‘freedom camping’ to minimise
foreseeable negative impacts.
In contrast to the Eastern States, most Western Australian caravan parks are not
managed by professional management groups. There are a small number of caravan
park ownership groups including Acclaim Parks and the publicly listed Aspen Group.
There are also membership caravan park marketing groups such as Big 4, Top Tourist
and Family Parks.
Professional management groups generate revenue from managing caravan parks on
behalf of local government and the private sector. They have well developed policies
and procedures and professionally focussed operations, which provide a high level of
customer service.
The parks operating under ownership groups and caravan park marketing franchises,
have established customer service standards as well as operating policies and
procedures. However, in the case of the caravan parks operating under the marketing
franchise, there is some variation due to the differences in skill levels and attitudes of
the private owners.
Many caravan parks in Western Australia are owner-operated by people that operate
the business for lifestyle reason or as a retirement “nest egg”. Some, according to the
submissions of consumers have limited hospitality experience and training and lack
customer service orientation.
A Strategic Approach to Caravan and Camping Tourism in Western Australia Page 42