Comment: Free Camping - What is the real cost?
Submitted: Saturday, Dec 03, 2011 at 17:17
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Member - Paul B (WA)
It's always seemed to me to be a desperate ploy to think you are going to make money out of people who don't want to spend it!
Certainly what we've observed in Kalgoorlie both pre & post the CMHA rally a month or so back is that the preponderance of miserly people amongst them is much higher. We did quite
well out of the actual rally itself because there were so many of them all here at once (800+ motor homes for 1500-2000 people) but having made Kalgoorlie "CV/MH-friendly" we're not actually sure what the benefit is. Our caravan parks aren't threatened by this because they're all full of transient mining industry workers, but those of us who thought it would bring us some more business are scratching our heads.
So I guess my point is, if you are a struggling country town, don't think you're going to make much money out of nomads by providing them with
free camping. Spend your meagre resources on something that's going to deliver your community a better outcome.
My two penneth worth.
Paul, Kalgoorlie
Reply By: The Landy - Wednesday, Mar 04, 2015 at 01:10
Wednesday, Mar 04, 2015 at 01:10
Paul, thanks for commenting.
You highlight something that is very important to this debate, and that is whether there is any ‘real tangible’ benefit to communities providing facilities such as free or subsidised
camping to caravans and motor-homes. I’d like to see some ‘hard numbers’ on this, and further feedback from local communities where this is done. I’m inclined towards the view that those travelling for extended periods will look for the cheapest options at all times, such as the larger
supermarket chains in larger cities for supplies, and larger towns for refuelling where there is more price tension.
What is important to recognise that there are tourists’ doing the lap that may spend a portion of their travel budget on local attractions etc, but then there is another group for whom extended travelling is a way of life, and anecdotal evidence suggests they are very budget conscious and unlikely to support local communities unless there is a cost benefit. Nor are they likely to take a view that because they got free accommodation they will give it back via local purchases – I suspect they are ‘banking’ the savings.
Cheers, The Landy
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