Freedom campers still spend cash
I was chatting to some freedom campers last week at Lower Pitone Road. A lovely young German couple. The reason I stopped and chatted was because they were walking along the roadside picking up other people’s rubbish; beer bottles, plastic bags and such – the usual flotsam and jetsam of modernity left behind by inconsiderate people of little brain.
The Germans reckoned that because of the welcome and friendliness shown to them during their travels in NZ over the last month or so it was the least they could do to pay it forward so they wanted the place to be all the better for them having being there. What a great attitude and to be honest it’s not isolated. I’ve had reason to talk with freedom campers over the last few months and most of them are all bright, young people who want to see the world, happy to do the right thing by doing what they can with what they have. Mostly that’s information from apps like Campermate – and money. As tourists they spend an average of $1000 more than the usual ‘10-day tourists’ on the golden mile of Auckland, Rotorua, Wellington and Christchurch and after a longer stay they part with an average of $6000 each – that’s $26 million all up. It’s not on accommodation of course as they keep their dosh for real NZ experiences and let’s face it, the Taranaki economy’s black and white gold is looking less than ordinary so we need all the tourist dollars we can get.
The four Taranaki councils are working cohesively with other agencies to work on the issues around facilities for freedom camping but when it comes down to it, it’s up to us as individuals to welcome tourists because what goes around, comes around as my German friends showed so eloquently.
When travelling it has always been true that the less you spend, the more people you meet. That’s never truer here so there’s plenty of opportunities to say ‘‘g’day’’ to a stranger and perhaps a brief chat to enrichen everybody’s life. Imagine if the Rail Trail got the cold shoulder when it first started up, where would that be now? It was the warm and embracing welcome from the locals that made it the success it is and it has to be the same for Taranaki if we want to make a viable future for ourselves.
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