Industry bushfire response – Sunrise broadcast, Help a Mate and Keep on Camping

This bushfire season has been devastating for tourism regions across the country. Many caravan holiday parks in these areas should be brimming with visitors in what would normally be peak season, but instead are trying to rebuild.

As your national association we have been liaising with Federal Government Ministers and agencies as well as other industry associations to make sure the issues impacting our industry businesses are highlighted in any recovery discussions.  We are also working closely with caravan state associations and park chains in affected regions who have already provided incredibly useful practical information for their member businesses throughout the crisis.

In January, we put a call out to industry wishing to assist through a quarantined industry marketing fund to directly encourage future visitation to affected areas once it is safe for tourists to return.  

We would like to thank Vic Parks, BMPRO, All Parks Insurance, NRMA Parks and Resorts, Caravan Industry Victoria, CCIA NSW, Reflections Holiday Parks, Discovery Holiday Parks, Top Parks, Dometic, Ingenia Holidays, BIG4 Holiday Parks, Apollo Motorhome Holidays, Caravan Park Brokers, Redarc, K-Mac Powerheads, and Mandurah Caravan and Tourist Park for their support of the initiative.

We also like to acknowledge two of the smallest parks in New Zealand – Te Aroha Caravan Park ($250) and Mangawhai Heads Holiday Park ($500) who have each also pledged to support the campaign.

Camping holidays promoted on national television

On Friday, February 7, Channel Seven’s prime time morning show ‘Sunrise’ showed support for the caravan industry with a live broadcast from BIG4 Batemans Bay at Easts Riverside Holiday Park as part of its ‘Road to Recovery’ week broadcast. 

The Sunrise ‘Road to Recovery’ tour was broadcast over five days, and popular weather man Sam Mac visited five fire affected areas across three states in five days.

The inclusion of a caravan park as one of the five days provided a national opportunity to highlight the significant impact of the recent fires on the industry as a whole.

The Sunrise program has long been a supporter of the camping industry, regularly highlighting the benefits of the camping lifestyle and we thank them again for their support in this difficult time.

Keep On Camping initiative launched

Following the Help a Mate callout, Caravan Industry Association of Australia launched the ‘Keep on Camping’ initiative, urging travellers to consider visiting an affected area on their next caravan and camping trip.  

The ‘Keep on Camping’ initiative is a dedicated digital marketing platform designed to put consumers back in parks and in affected communities without delay.

Keep on Camping is designed ultimately as a consumer platform that is adapted to ensure our industry in disaster affected areas have a strategy which can be adapted and rolled out to ensure that campers return.