Steady rise of happy campers

Pitching a tent and towing a mobile home became much more popular among our tourists last year.

Caravan parks and camping sites saw their income jump by 51% compared to a year ago, according to tourist accommodation numbers released yesterday by Statistics SA.

The R79.4-million raked in over December came mostly from domestic tourists, according to FNB's head of tourism, Wiza Nyondo.

"Of course, some people have downtraded," he said, citing pressure on disposable income as a big reason for hooking and driving instead of flying and booking into posher accommodation.

"As long as people are travelling inside our country, that's a good thing," said Nyondo.

But it is not only those cutting back who boost caravan parks and campsites.

"We also see a lot of new entrants coming into the market," Nyondo said.

Though the initial layout of buying a caravan and camping equipment acts as a barrier to entry, the face of these holidaymakers is changing and more black South Africans are getting into it, according to Nyondo.

"But it will take a while," he said.

Happy campers are the best marketers. Though national tourism bodies and local authorities have been grafting hard to market domestic destinations, they can't beat word of mouth.