Tapping into Australia’s fastest-growing tourist market

Sunshine Coast Council has today agreed to implement a policy to help meet the demand of Australia’s fastest-growing tourism market - short-term accommodation for self-contained vehicles.

Economic Development – Tourism, Sport and Major Events Portfolio Councillor Jason O’Pray said the Limited Facilities Camping Interim Policy would set the framework to assess approvals.

“The Campervan and Motorhome Club of Australia cited mobile travellers in recreational vehicles as one of the nation’s fastest-growing segments of the tourism industry,” Cr O’Pray said.

“These travellers often seek self-contained sites for short stays, which generally entail a patch of land, effluent dump facilities and access to potable water.

“They don’t always need all the facilities found at holiday parks such as kiosks and laundries and research has found that although they will regularly stay in traditional caravan parks, they often complement this activity by staying in these limited facility areas from time to time.

“We are finding travellers are using a range of sites, including some which are not approved for overnight camping.

“There are also a number of community groups across the region providing low-cost camping services or seeking approval from council to use freehold or leased land for this purpose and this interim policy will allow council to assess whether they meet the guidelines.”

Cr O’Pray said Council’s Local Laws had previously only allowed camping on council-controlled land which had express approval.

“The local law requires sufficient toilets, hot and cold water to all showers and hand basins, toilet, bathroom, kitchen, laundry and drinking water facilities, minimum site sizes and specific distances between camp sites and to amenities,” he said.

“That cuts a lot of our local sites out and we are either losing these tourists to other areas or campers are staying illegally.

“This interim policy will provide a clear framework for council to assess and approve limited-facilities camping applications without having to satisfy the requirements ordinarily applied to accommodation parks.

“I emphasise this interim policy is not meant to be anti-competitive to our commercial operators. Private industry can also buy into this if they meet the obligations under the Planning Scheme and the Land Act.

“In fact, Council hopes this policy will also encourage the private sector to consider providing limited-facilities camping options for tourists.

“Today’s decision to approve this interim policy plugs a gap in the local laws until a comprehensive Drive Tourism Plan for Sunshine Coast Council can be developed in 2015.

“The strategy will also include managing increased numbers of tourists when the commercial market cannot cater for visitors during large events or during peak tourism times.

“Significant consultation will be undertaken with key providers and stakeholders when preparing the strategy.

“I’m expecting the number of RVs on Australian roads to grow rapidly in the coming years and Sunshine Coast needs to be ready to accommodate them.

“The social and economic benefits cannot be understated and we need to embrace this market because if we don’t, another region will.”