Grant Wilckens: SA’s regional tourism is a river of gold that’s in need of turbocharging

THE great Aussie camping trip could be a river of gold for South Australia’s regional areas — but many visitors are deterred by the dangerous roads, dodgy Wi-Fi and poor mobile phone coverage country people take for granted, says Grant Wilckens.

THE great Aussie camping trip could be a river of gold for South Australia’s regional areas — but many visitors are deterred by the dangerous roads, dodgy Wi-Fi and poor mobile phone coverage country people take for granted.

The caravan and camping industry is worth $20 billion per annum to the Australian economy and had record growth last year with national overnight domestic caravan and camping trips reaching $11.8 million.

Caravanning and camping appeals to people in a busy, hyperconnected world.

Travellers — particularly Millennials — want to connect in a meaningful way with the environment and with each other. There’s scope for greater growth. In 2017, almost 400,000 international visitors chose to take a caravan or camping holiday, up 13 per cent on the previous year.

But each year 1.8 million tourists drive from Melbourne down the Great Ocean Rd, reach Portland and turn back.

In South Australia, about 66 per cent of our regional tourism is intrastate (local) travel. Only 29 per cent comes from other states and only 5 per cent from overseas.

If we are to turbocharge regional tourism, as a sector we need to focus on removing customer “pain points”. As a community, we need to invest in the right infrastructure.

Having to contend with heavy truck traffic on local roads is a real turn-off for people towing a caravan or driving an RV — particularly if they are not experienced. Widening verges would help to make the trip safer and more appealing.

Equally, we know that time-poor tourists are looking for amenities, including access to Wi-Fi. Chinese tourists rely heavily on translation apps to enhance their holiday experiences. And when 7000 tourists descend on Robe over summer, for example, the telecommunications networks melt down. Imagine what this does to the customer experience.

Regional businesses are forced to develop their own telecommunications networks, solar energy and water recycling which is a considerable cost — and obviously it’s not feasible with roads. It’s great to have a plan for regional tourism, but the next state budget needs to include initiatives to improve roads, telecommunications and access to affordable power and water in regional areas.

It might not be as sexy as cutting the ribbon on a city sporting oval or throwing money at advanced manufacturing but some investment in regional infrastructure would go a long way.

We’re grateful for plans to help regional tourism fly like an eagle, but without public investment in infrastructure we’ll simply be scratching around like turkeys.

Grant Wilckens is chair of the Caravan Industry Association of Australia