qdts-camping-options-toolkit

1.3 Needs analysis
Local governments are encouraged to undertake a needs
analysis as a first action for the newly formed regional
camping stakeholders group. The aim of the needs
analysis is to put timely and accurate, research-based
information into a usable format for debate and
decision-making.
The needs analysis could consist of two separate but
interlinked parts:
1. market needs analysis
2. infrastructure needs analysis.
Conducting a market needs analysis
Looking at the need from a consumer perspective is vital.
While there may be a range of opinions about the topic,
the key is to provide a solid base of evidence around
consumer demand and feedback on the current situation
to avoid responding to an unsubstantiated market need, or
alternatively overlooking a significant market opportunity.
The aim of the market needs analysis is to better
understand, and agree on, the size of the challenge, the
nature of the challenge and the additional economic
benefit any action might have.
Assessing the market needs begins with understanding
the target market. Fact sheet C: Camping market profile
has been provided to help better understand the market.
Through analysis of the NVS and IVS (from TRA), local
governments can estimate the number of, type of and
trend in commercial and non-commercial campers
using the definitions given in this toolkit (see page 12,
Understanding the challenge). This will help to establish
the size of the challenge.
From that base, local governments are encouraged
to engage with their regional tourism organisation to
understand what research has been undertaken on visitor
satisfaction and drive tourism market trends. This will help
to establish the nature of the challenge.
Finally, local governments are encouraged to work with
the regional camping stakeholders group to understand
the relative impact of a change through calculating the
estimated economic benefit of taking action (see Fact
sheet C). In doing this, consideration needs to be given to
where the travellers are on the replenishment cycle (see
Fact sheet C), how much they are likely to spend, and what
additional economic value it may have. This can be done
using a table like Table 5.
Table 5 Estimating the economic benefit of a camping
ground (sample)
How many extra visitors will stay
overnight in the region if the
camping ground is provided
(per year)?
On average, how many nights will
these visitors stay in the region?
On average, what will each of
these visitors spend in the region
per day (excluding spend on
campsite fees)?
Visitor expenditure in the region
due to the camping ground
Calculation
(see Fact
sheet C for
tips)
[Insert value]
[Insert value]
[Insert value]
A x B x C
Reference
(see Fact
sheet C)
Net benefit (%) [Insert value] E
Net benefit D x E F
Conducting an infrastructure needs analysis
Once the market need is understood, local governments
are encouraged to look at the need for the infrastructure
through a cost–benefit approach. A cost–benefit analysis
(CBA) is an economic decision-making tool used to
compare the total costs of a project with the total benefits
expected from it. It considers financial revenues and
costs as well as impacts on people’s welfare (such as
environmental and social changes). A needs analysis
should complement the consultation stage.
Sharing of information between local governments will
help drive a better understanding of the costs and benefits
and achieve more accurate CBAs.
Fact sheet B: Estimating the real cost and additional
benefits is provided to help local governments undertake
CBAs. The steps are:
• Estimate all costs that will be incurred.
• Estimate all anticipated benefits.
• Subtract the costs from the expected benefits to
give the net benefits.
A
B
C
D
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