29 June 2017

Comments on irresponsible DomPost campervan story

Wellington City Council is getting slammed this morning due to a piece of seriously irresponsible journalism in the DomPost regarding Lions tour campervans. This is unfair – and we’re calling out the DomPost on their story.

Here’s the real story – two UK travel companies organising Lions tour camper van packages came to the City Council and the Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency (Wreda) earlier this year – they wanted secure sites exclusively for their clients as close as possible to the Wellington CBD.

We’ve arranged two sites – at Barnett Street beside Te Papa and at the Evans Bay marina. The tour companies paid up-front for these sites and then passed on the costs to their clients as part of the packages.

At Barnett Street on Wellington’s spectacular waterfront the campers get guaranteed, safe sites right in the middle of the Wellington CBD and only a stone’s throw from the Courtenay Place party zone. We’ve provided security, toilets, tour hosts and electricity at both sites.

We’re charging $100 a night per camper van to cover our considerable costs and the fact we’ve taken a load of revenue-generating carparks out of action for the duration. The tour companies are charging the extra $30.

We’re expecting hundreds more camper vanners to turn up in the next 24 hours in Wellington – let’s be clear – they won’t be charged $130 a night – they will be parking for free all over town.

We note that other sites around the country – including in Auckland – are charging similar prices per night.

We are not into gouging camper vanners – we want people to come to Wellington to have a good time. The DomPost should hang its head in shame for running such a sloppy, useless and frankly ill-considered story that’s brought Wellington into disrepute.

ends

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