Recently the Caravan, Camping & Motorhome industries has again experienced rapid growth, with new caravan registrations increasing to an average rate of 14% a year, a trend that is expected to continue in the near future.
It is significant to note that Victoria is estimated to represent 80% of caravan manufacturing nationally.*
* Source: Caravan Industry Association (CIA), Caravan Industry Overview, 2003
Current caravan registrations are around 80,000 per year.
The above is just part of a submission that was presented to the Benalla Rural City to try and encourage them to make available in the city caravan parking spots. It fell on deaf ears!
A perfect example (and one again that was presented) of a town catering for the caravan population is Childers in Queensland. The town has a population of about 2000 people but their council has seen fit to allocate an exceptionally large 'tourist parking area'. This area consists of 12 drive through parking bays, six bays for 'combi-vans' and the like plus six parking spots for buses. There is also a 'dump point' for caravans. All in all a wonderful spot for tourists to park and it is within a short walk to toilets, main shopping center and tourist information center. It is also very well sign posted, both on the highway and the side street.
Benalla has about 10 times the population, but one twelth the amount of 'tourist parking spaces'.
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Travelers towing caravans around Australia should think twice about going to Benalla with their caravan. For more than ten years my partner and I fought to have the town allocate caravan parking areas for tourists, in the end there were two such spaces allotted, 'in a busy car-park'. It was pointed out to the relevant authorities that the spots are to small and to hard to park all but the smallest caravans. The caravan spots are some 300 plus meters from the present 'tourist information' building, never ideal for the elderly or in-firmed.
Another major problem facing caravaners is the fact that the council does not police the two caravan spots, but allows 'all and sundry' to park in these two spaces. It would appear that touists are not encouraged, in fact I have heard 'from the horses mouth' that the council didn't deem Benalla to be a tourist destination, and so didn't need to put in place any tourist infrastructure.
We have also tried for many years to have a tourist bike path put into place to join up those already in place,and being built, in other areas of the North East of Victoria. And the answer has consistently been 'we are not a tourist destination' or we haven't got the money. The Victorian Government has, over the past years, poured millions of dollars into other areas of the state for the very same type of bike paths as we have been wanting for Benalla.
So whilst there is a wonderful man-made lake in Benalla and other splendid tourist destinations in the area, think twice if you have a caravan or wish to cycle around the area.
Caravaners are generally a very astute group of people, and if the are not made welcome they 'go somewhere else' to spend their money. Benalla is missing out on an enormous amount of tourist dollars, and rightly so. So as I said, think twice before making Benalla a stop over.