Even Bosses and QCs Join Caravan Trail

Report by Lisa Allen The Weekend Australian Financial Review April 9-13, 2009 Page 2 & 3

Don’t be surprised if you awake in your caravan this Easter rubbing shoulders with the head of a large accounting firm or a couple of Queen’s Counsel sharing the great egalitarian Australian holiday.

From Victoria’s Great Ocean Road, north to Queensland’s outback, budget-conscious holidaymakers are jettisoning expensive overseas mini-breaks for a cheap couple of nights around a camp fire or on the open road.

While sales of upmarket Winnebago motorhomes are down 7 percent, Wicked Campers, a budget rental group based in Brisbane, say its 821 vans are booked solid.

“We are doing a bit better than what we were doing last year,” a Wicked spokeswoman says.

Inviting customers who have booked vans for 14 days to turn up naked for a free day’s hire has helped.

Ben Yates, chief executive of the Caravan, RV and Accommodation Industry of Australia, says it’s clearly not trendy any more to spend copious amounts of money on holidays.

Sites such as the 300-place North Narrabeen Lakeside operation in Sydney’s north and the 500-van Anglesea Beachfront Family Caravan Park near Victoria’s Great Ocean Road are fully booked as a result of the economic slump and cheaper fuel.

The caravan sector knew it was on to a winner when three QCs spent Christmas as a caravan park in Torquay, Victoria, while KPMG Queensland chairman, Phil Hennessay, spent the festive season at a park on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.

“From talking to various operators around Australia, caravan park operators are doing the same business or better than they did 12 months ago,” says Yates.

“There’s more people holidaying at home, they are more frugal with their money, but they want the lifestyle experience.”

At Sydney’s Lakeside caravan park, general manager Karen Dineen is readying for a big Easter – mainly from people who live less than 10 kilometres away, in fairly salubrious suburbs like Palm Beach, which was once boasted $35,000-a-week holiday rentals.

All Dineen’s camping and caravan sites are booked out and more than three-quarters of her villas and bungalows are also full, booked at $300 each a night over Easter.

“The locals used to come here and be a bit embarrassed, because it’s so close,” she says. “But one people are in here the kids don’t really know where they are.”

Other parks are benefiting from lower petrol prices.

The Brisbane-based Royal Automobile Club of Queensland’s general manager, Gary Fites, insists the 20¢-a-litre fall since last Easter will encourage people to travel more.

Caravanning Queensland chief executive Ron Chapman reports solid bookings in the regional towns of Warwick, Toowoomba and Stanthorpe.

He says there are still vacancies in some coastal Queensland parks for Easter. “We believe that because of all the wet weather people are holding off booking and watching to see if weather improves.”