New booking system for some Tasmanian national park campgrounds

Some paid campsites in Tasmania will require booking from November In short: Campsites at 10 Tasmanian national parks and conservation areas will soon require booking. The first phase of the Parks Online Booking System will be operating from November 3, and there are hopes it will address "ghost camping". What's next? As the rollout of the system continues, it will be expanded to include other Parks and Wildlife offerings, such as parks passes. Campers will be able to book a site at some of Tasmania's most popular campgrounds from early November, under the first phase of a new online booking system for national parks. "Only those campgrounds that currently attract a fee to stay are included in the first phase of the system," Parks Minister Nick Duigan said. Campgrounds at 10 places managed by the Parks and Wildlife Service (PWS) are included in the first phase: - Arthur Pieman Conservation Area - Peggs Beach Conservation Area - Narawntapu National Park - Mount William National Park - Maria Island National Park - Freycinet National Park - Fortescue Bay, Tasman National Park - South Bruny National Park - Mount Field National Park PWS project manager Chris Evans said the new system would address "ghost camping" — where campers reserve sites with an unoccupied tent or van until they are ready to use the site. "You've got to go in, make a reservation [and] pay for your reservation at that time," Mr Evans said. "If you come up to the date that you're due to arrive and then cancel it at that point, you will lose your full fee." Mr Duigan said he wanted campers to have certainty. "If you book your site, pay for your site there is every expectation that when you turn up to that site, your site is there and ready for you," he said. "If someone has put their tent down on it but haven't paid for it and haven't booked it, then there is a reasonable expectation that they will be moved off and you will be moved in." Mr Duigan said all of the sites subject to the booking system were places where PWS staff were on the ground and ready to help educate campers. "We'll be taking a pretty soft-touch approach to that in the early days." He said further phases of the system would be worked through. Asked whether free campsites would require bookings in later iterations of the system, Mr Duigan said: "I would like to see a circumstance where all of the Parks [and Wildlife Service] offerings are included through this interface because that gives people the certainty we want to provide." Other PWS offerings will be added to the system. "Once fully implemented, the system will enable customers to book campsites, walking experiences, cave tours, parks passes and other products through a single online portal," Mr Duigan said. Visit Northern Tasmania chief executive Tracey Mallett said the tourism industry was "looking forward" to the implementation of the booking system. "It does bring us in line with the rest of the country and [it's] perfect timing of course with the introduction of the new Spirits of Tasmania because those new ships, which obviously launch at the end of October, will bring two and a half times more caravanners over the course of a week," Ms Mallett said. "Being able to book ahead guarantees that they will get that site."