NSW’S country towns are in prime position to tap into the significant economic and social potential of Australia’s fastest growing tourism sector, the self-sufficient recreational vehicle (RV) “wanderer”.
While local governments across regional NSW are moving to establish themselves as RV friendly with rest areas for free overnight camping, drop-off and pick-up points and suitable parking to allow for central business district access, tourism experts say there are also plenty of entrepreneurial opportunities to be had.
A decline in coastal caravan parks combined with growth in RV manufacturing is painting the backdrop for a looming camp shortage, tourism experts say.
The Campervan and Motorhome Club of Australia (CMCA), which already has a massive 66,000-plus members is taking on new members at the average rate of 779 per month.
CMCA statistics show the average RV tourists’ weekly spend when on the road is $572.
The CMCA’s general manager Richard Barwick and academic Rod Caldicott, from Southern Cross University’s School of Tourism and Hospitality Manage-ment, Lismore, said inland towns were in a favoured position to tap into what was now considered to be the growth sector of the tourism industry.
“A lot of the people on the road in RVs have seen the coast and want to discover the rest of Australia,” Mr Barwick said.
“They are drawn inland by the unique attractions and geography and because they want to meet the people of the bush.
“For country towns, this provides enormous opportunity for another income stream alongside agriculture.”
Councils were quickly coming to the party, setting up low-cost rest areas which were proving terrific assets, he said.
The CMCA has now accredited 166 towns as being “RV friendly” and many more are working on applications.
One of those is Parkes, where councillor Belinda McCorkell has instigated a task force to plan infrastructure to accommodate RV and caravan visitors.
“Because of our ideal location on the Newell Highway and vicinity to big centres like Dubbo we get a constant flow of this type of traffic on a daily basis,” Cr McCorkell said.
“But because these travellers don’t stay in the type of accommodation currently available here, we’re not capturing the potential.
“These travellers have made a considerable investment in their caravans and RVs – they have solar panels, dishwashers, showers – so they are only looking for somewhere safe to park up.
“If we can’t provide that, we miss out on having them shop, dine and even fill prescriptions here.”
More than 23,000 caravans are now manufactured in Australia per year, compared to a low of 5000 in 1991, Mr Caldicott said.
“There was a 257 per cent increase in the decade to 2005 in caravan registrations,” he said.
“In part, that is related to the baby boom bubble but there is also strong growth in the young family market.
“More and more families are taking the gap year – pulling kids out of school and travelling, looking to throw off some of the shackles of regimentation.”
Impacting the decrease in caravan parks is largely the price of land, red and green tape and return on investment, which is seeing a conversion of some beachfront land to other forms of accommodation, high rise units and hotels.
Short and long-term site capacity of parks decreased by eight and 13pc respectively between 2000 and 2009.
