Tents popular over Christmas

Uncertain economic times have resulted in visitors to Bunbury skipping caravans and cabins in favour of tents during the summer holidays.

Local caravan park operators reported while overall occupancy was down between 5 and 10 per cent on the previous two years, there had been an upsurge in the number of families opting to pitch a tent on park grounds.

“It’s definitely been a little quieter overall in the South West,” Discovery Holiday Parks’ Koombana Bay park manager Shane Conquer said.

“Forward bookings are slightly down on last year and there aren’t as many ‘grey nomads’ around.”

“We have had an increase in the number of tents in the park, mainly from backpackers but also families who are trying to be a little more price conscious.

“People are a lot more canny with their money and so we place a lot of emphasis on value adds like our kid’s club and free kitchen facilities.”

Tahnya Homer, owner of Waterloo Village Caravan Park, also noticed a surge in the number of tents at Christmas.

“We have a lot of long term caravan residents so there hasn’t been much change there, but we have had a lot more backpackers camping in the park over the holidays,” Ms Homer said.

Glade Caravan Park’s Ainslee Brady said backpackers were put off from staying at her park because of the distance to the city centre and lack of public transport.

“We get plenty of visitors who have their own transport and backpackers in Wicked vans and the like,” Ms Brady said.

“Backpackers without cars find it a little more difficult.

“There is a bus that goes past here but it doesn’t run at all on Sundays, which is a problem.”