One of the most hated side effects of the rise of online booking for national parks has been the emergence of the ‘ghost camping’ phenomenon, which commonly sees fully booked campgrounds left half empty.
For grey nomads who haven’t been able to book ahead and don’t know whether they should set up camp on a booked – but empty – campsite, it can be incredibly frustrating. While there is no magic solution to the problem while online booking remains – and all the signs are that it is going to remain – the various authorities are now acknowledging the issue and starting to act.
After seeking community input, Queensland’s Department of Environment, Science and Innovation (DESI) has just amended its regulations for the management of the state’s recreation areas, and these include rules related to ghost camping.
Campers can get frustrated when they see a booked campsite remain unnoccupied. PIC: Cizza
A DESI spokesperson told the Grey Nomads that the practice of ‘ghost camping’ was depriving genuine campers of the opportunity to enjoy Queensland’s national parks.
“It is now an offence to not attend a booked campsite or to put up tents and leave them unattended for more than 24 hours without a reasonable excuse, such as in an emergency,” the spokesperson said. “This regulation means people booking campsites and setting up equipment to exclude other campers will now run the risk of being fined and having their camping permits cancelled.”
Rangers have been monitoring and upholding camper compliance since the new regulations were introduced last month.
Similarly, Parks Victoria held community engagement on its booking system earlier this year and received feedback from more than 3,000 people … and it’s made changes.
“We recently introduced changes including a more flexible cancellation and refund policy,” Mark Knower, Parks Victoria Senior Manager Marketing and Customer Experience, told the Grey Nomads. “We believe this will improve ‘ghost camping’ as people now have more of a financial incentive to cancel their booking if their plans have changed.”
He said that when a booking is cancelled, the site is made available online for someone else to book, and Park Rangers patrol bookable campgrounds to monitor empty sites.
“Improving our booking system is an ongoing process and we will continue to listen and gather community feedback,” said Mr Knower.
In New South Wales, the NPWS has also recently made National parks act to reduce number of booked campsites remaining empty online cancellation easier, and campers can get a 50% refund of camping fees up to the day of arrival, or postpone their booking and retain all money paid.
“Ghost bookings are very frustrating for everyone and National Parks is working with all campers to try and stop this practice from happening,” said an NPWS spokesperson. “NPWS knows that circumstances can change, and that’s why we’re making it as easy as possible to change bookings when plans change.”
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Grey Nomad Members are being given the opportunity to win one of two double Gold Passes the spectacular Barrington Coast Airshow which will bring the skies over the NSW town of Taree to thrilling life on Saturday, November 9.
Each Double Gold Pass is worth $300
Click here to find out more about GN membership, the prize, and how to enter.
Members: If you wish to enter, please click here.
Not noticed want reduction in number of empty but booked sites…. Still very frustrating
What if some a bookable and some are not to balance out the different needs of users. Not everyone can take the risk of driving out to a camp only to find no sites are available.