The introduction of an online booking system for two popular beach campsites on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula has been declared a success … but the local council says this has led to the ‘unfortunate problem that these sites are now becoming booked out’.
From yesterday, anyone wanting to camp at Perlubie Beach and Tractor Beach campsites is required to book a site and display a permit whilst camping there.
The District Council of Streaky Bay actually opened its online booking system week or more back, and it received hundreds of bookings within the first few days.
Mayor Travis Barber said the launch had been a nerve-wracking affair.
The new online booking system for campsites at Perlubie Becah and Tractor Beach is apparently being well used. PIC: Cizza
“However ultimately it was a success and the number of bookings shows how popular Streaky Bay is as a tourism destination,” he said. “Understanding that some may now be disappointed with some dates being booked out, I remind everyone of the excellent locations which are still at your disposal for camping.”
The council says other locations to camp at across the district of Streaky Bay, include:
And, in addition to these low-cost camping locations, the council said visitors also have the options of staying at the Streaky Bay Foreshore Tourist Park and the Little Islands Caravan Park.
“You have fishing off the Haslam Jetty, the calm waters of Baird Bay and the central locality of the Streaky Bay RV Park,” said Mr Barber. “Then you have the Streaky Bay Foreshore Tourist Park and the Little Islands Caravan Park which provides all the creature comforts you need while camping.”
Council CEO, Damian Carter was keen to highlight to potential visitors the recent investment in the Little Islands Caravan Park.
“Having recently toured the soon-to-be-opened villas at the Little Islands Caravan Park, they are second to none and there is none safer of a beach for young families than that where the Streaky Bay Foreshore Tourist Park sits,” he said.
Online bookings for Perlubie Beach and Tractor Beach campsites can be made here.
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No I don’t like the certainty of online booking!
We are true nomads in that we don’t plan our travels to the point where we know where we will be at a given time!
Another issue for us is our size eg bus and trailer – we often have to view a camp site first to determine if we will fit and obviously if it’s busy and manoeuvre space limited then it’s a no go
More and more campgrounds are becoming vacationer grounds rather than traditional camp grounds
If it gets to the point where we have to plan our trips with no flexibility to change our minds, allow for breakdowns and weather events we may as well just sell our vehicles and go on package tours, or join tagalongs with groups. Many of us like to travel alone and don’t like tight schedules.
These online booking systems always fail as it appears camps are booked out when in reality there are many vacancies.
There needs to be a plan to rerelease unused campsites. People often don’t use bookings as they are reasonably priced and they lay vacant. Such a waste