Karratha works towards RV-friendly tag

The City of Karratha is working with Discovery Parks to help Karratha achieve an RV-friendly status to give the region’s tourism industry a boost.

The council will support Discovery Parks in creating a low-cost RV area on their Balmoral Caravan Park site by putting $25,000 towards erecting a dividing fence and will establish signage to guide visitors to the facility.

City of Karratha Deputy Mayor John Lally said achieving the Caravan and Motorhome Club of Australia designation will expand the tourism industry.

“We have been working on building our tourism industry for quite some time now, and it’s great to see so many companies like Discovery Parks putting forward proposals to grow the industry,” he said.

“More self-drive tourists potentially staying longer will mean more money spent at our local businesses like cafes, mechanics and shops which is great for our local economy.”

Karratha Visitor Centre manager Jane Knapp said they supported the council’s decision to attain RV-friendly status.

“Without it those ones will go through and stop in Port Hedland,” she said.

“We want them to stop here and want them to see it’s a destination.”

Ms Knapp said it will encourage tourists to come to town and stay for a longer period of time.

The City saw the need to progress to RV Friendly Town status after an initiative by the Pilbara Regional Council.

The PRC undertook the Pilbara Recreational Vehicle Friendly in response to the perceived lack of RV-friendly facilities in Karratha.

The study noted almost 80 per cent of the region’s tourists arrive by road.

“There is already a strong self-drive tourism market in Karratha, and having the RV-friendly designation will provide great promotion for us among this market segment,” Mr Lally said.