Apping the rugby fans

Freedom campers can use and app to find camping spots on private property. Supplied photo.

A camping app is helping visiting rugby fans following the Lions tour to find campsites, farms, lifestyle blocks and parking on other private properties.

Lions fans are using the app to find heartland hospitality all around the country, says CamperMate founder Adam Hutchinson.

With freedom camping regulations changing, CamperMate is seeing an increase in the number of users seeking out smaller, unique spaces for use during their travels, says Adam.

'As many of our users are driving certified self-contained vehicles, all that's needed is an area such as a driveway to park for the night.”

CamperMate was developed to help visiting freedom campers find essential facilities near them, such as toilets and rubbish bins.

'The goal was to make responsible camping easier for tourists by providing them with reliable information on the go,” says Adam.

Maureen and Colin Binns at Paengaroa listed their property on CamperMate as ‘Kiwifruit Country', offering an archetypal slice of rural NZ for $15 a night, 'surrounded by kiwifruit, avocados, sheep and dairy cows”.

The Binns registered with CamperMate a few weeks ago, offering a wide concrete driveway and easy access to nearby nature, including morepork and kereru.

The seven hectare block about 16km from Te Puke and Maketu grows fruit, nuts and truffles.

'The thing is we live in such a beautiful place. Family and friends come up here and really love it so it's really great to show what we've got,” says Maureen Binns.

In the Waikato, Andrew Henderson offers private accommodation on a 1ha lifestyle block halfway between Hamilton and Cambridge. The property used to be a winery/café and is now registered as a private property on CamperMate.

Andrew hosted a steady stream of Kiwi guests through the New Zealand Motorhome and Campervan Association over the past three years but recently registered with CamperMate to attract overseas tourists.

The number of freedom campers has grown significantly from around 10,000 visitors in the early 2000s, to around 80,000 in more recent years, according to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. Total spending by freedom campers has increased significantly to around $380 million per year, the ministry says.

The CamperMate app has been downloaded over 460,000 times and alerts 35,000 tourists a day to more than 1700 unique camping locations all over New Zealand, generating business for campgrounds, wineries, taverns and clubs.

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