Australia is certainly not the only country that has seen a huge sure in the popularity of caravanning and camping … and not the only place where, in some areas, there has been something of a backlash.
In the Scottish Highlands, for example, the North Coast 500 – a scenic route 500-mile coastal journey dubbed ‘Scotland’s Route 66’ – has seen campervan numbers skyrocket to approximately 36,000 since it was launched in 2015.
Having been created to boost tourism, the route has been stunningly successful … perhaps even too successful.
The GB News website reports that a Glasgow Caledonian University study found the route generates £22million annually for the local economy while creating around 200 full-time jobs.
Driving in the Scottish Highlands is becoming more and more popular. PIC: Elina Sazonova / Pexels
However, according to GB News, the route’s popularity has led to tensions between locals and tourists, with complaints about road congestion and allegations of illegal waste dumping by some campervan users.
According to council data. Overall visitor numbers to the Highlands have increased by 65% since 2012.
The Scottish Government has rejected calls form some quarters to introduce a mandatory campervan tax introduced for tourists visiting the North Coast 500 route.
However, it says the Highland Council retains the flexibility to explore voluntary contribution schemes as part of its visitor levy development.
Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes told GN News she understood the frustrations that people can experience at the height of summer.
“There are only five roads in and out of the Highlands, so it can’t be that difficult to figure out who is travelling in, who is travelling out, and how you can work with people at that point to look at whether a financial contribution can be made,” she said.
The council is currently reviewing broader visitor levy proposals that would impose a 5% charge on overnight accommodation, including hotels, B&Bs and holiday lets.
SNP MSP Emma Roddick, however, has argued for the inclusion of campervan visitors in any wider tourist tax, stating it was ‘fair’ that drivers contributed to the ‘preservation and maintenance of the areas they enjoy so much’.
Labour’s Shaun Fraser, standing to be MSP for Inverness and Nairn, told GB News he also supported exploring ‘options attached to campervans, including number plate recognition to charge visiting campervans using Highland roads’.
Both politicians emphasised that Highland communities and local services must benefit from tourism revenue.
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No, they want the tourists, they set the route up, and now that it has become over popular, the high land councils, want to impose a tax on the very people they targeted to visit.Duh.
They probably expected the campers to behave responsibly and show respect by not littering the landscape with their waste. How naive of them!