It’s official. The mining boom is making caravan park accommodation harder to find and scaring grey nomads away. The Queensland Government has released a draft plan discussing how best to boost the driving holiday market in the state … and it has admitted that the mining-induced campsite squeeze is a real issue.
“A lack of available accommodation in resource communities is starting to drive changes to visitors’ travel patterns, affecting tourism operators in these regions,” the report says. “Increasing the supply and availability of accommodation for tourism purposes in resource communities is critical.”
The report says regulatory barriers and environment and planning constraints has meant there has been limited investment in new accommodation in the state in the past decade.
Tourism Minister Jann Stuckey said the grey nomad market has certainly been hit.
“A lot of spots have been occupied by workers for the mines,” she said. “Some of our travellers, especially the grey nomads who are used to travelling certain routes, have experienced difficulty in finding a berth at their favourite caravan park.”
Ms Stuckey said the paper looked at what amenities were currently available and would allow tourism authorities to better map where the best opportunities were for improvement. The government’s draft driving holiday strategy followed months of consultation with the tourism industry and includes plans to improve signage and road infrastructure.
Motoring organisation, the RACQ, says improving highways and roads and reducing congestion should be starting points.
