The Caravan Industry Association of Australia (CIAA) welcomed the Federal budget today with the announcement of Caravan Park infrastructure Upgrade funding.
The announcement of targeted infrastructure investment for the nation’s caravan parks will see a big shot in the arm for many park operators looking to build on the quality customer experiences already on offer across the country, according to a press release.
The announcement confirmed Labor’s pre-election commitment made to the CIAA to provide much-needed infrastructure expenditure if elected in May 2022.
In a LinkedIn post, the association said the program will mean many park operators looking to build on their quality customer experience offerings will be able to apply for grant funding.
In the soon-to-be-announced criteria for the Grant Program, caravan parks from around the country will be able to apply for funding to deliver shovel-ready projects.
The heart of the program is to assist caravan parks to swiftly upgrade or create new infrastructure and visitor facilities to enhance the visitor experience, including improvements to accessibility and environmental sustainability practices.
CIAA Chief Executive Stuart Lamont said this targeted Federal infrastructure support package recognized the growing and critical value of caravanning to Australia’s tourism and visitor economy.
“Caravanning has long been Australian domestic tourism’s largest visitor and economic cohort, an almost $24 billion economic driver in tourism and local manufacturing activity,” Lamont said.
“This well-targeted funding will go directly into our world-leading caravan park product across the nation. We also believe it will extract private capital expenditure support up to 3 times over.”
He said that for caravan parks to receive incentives for more attractive visitor amenities and the appealing product is the ticket to supporting sustainable recovery and growth in Australian tourism.