New Zealand - NZMCA bans overseas visitors from membership

[Owlhouse]

New Zealand - NZMCA bans overseas visitors from membership

I have just seen a report from the NZMCA (NZ Motor Caravan Association) which states that they will not allow non-Kiwis to join. The NZMCA is similar to our Caravan and Motorhome / Camping and Caravan clubs in that they have lots of sites and facilities. This ban means that any overseas visitor who wants to join cannot. It would probably not have been worth joining if you are only visiting NZ for a few weeks but for the longer term visitor it would have been worth it. I went motorhoming for 3 months a few years ago and would say it was well worthwhile as you got to meet 'the locals' and got lots of good info.
I think someone has shot themselves in the foot!!! They are going to lose out on an awful lot of pennies with this ban. At the moment to join costs NZ$130 + $90 yearly membership. Not a small sum at over £110 but for a longer term visitor the benefits should be worth it. I will be looking at other motorhome clubs for my next visit!
The report is below - [COLOR=rgb(12.549020%, 12.549020%, 12.549020%)]The New Zealand Motor Caravan Association has decided to limit its membership to New Zealand residents only.
Applicable immediately, the new criteria has been implemented by the NZMCA Board to protect the organisation’s reputation and the integrity of the Certified Self-Containment Standard. [/COLOR]
[COLOR=rgb(12.549020%, 12.549020%, 12.549020%)]“In todays’ environment, reputation is everything,” says NZMCA CEO Bruce Lochore.
“Our members’ good name has been hard won over many years and we can’t afford to have it undermined by short-stay overseas visitors who might not share the same commitment to protecting our country’s natural environment.”
Mr Lochore says the membership restriction follows a recent Board decision to no longer offer Certified Self- Containment checks to non-members and comes on the back of this year’s NZMCA-financed review of the Self- Containment Standard.
“We’ve put our money where our mouth is to raise the bar on the Standard and it’s vital in our view that we reinforce our stand by ensuring that all our members understand and respect our role in protecting New Zealand’s precious environment.
“Our local members live and work in communities just like the ones they holiday in; so we’re confident they have that understanding. But we’re not prepared to risk our reputation on overseas visitors who don’t have the same long-term commitment to our country.
“What we’ve seen since we stopped providing self-containment checks to non-members is more overseas visitors looking to join the Association to get around the ban. So we’re going to nip that trend in the bud.”
In implementing the membership restriction, Mr Lochore says the Board also recognised that the Association’s primary focus was to meet the needs of local people.
“This is who we are, we are here to represent New Zealanders – we’re not here to be used by short-stay overseas visitors.
“We’re all about the domestic market; for the past four years, we have been actively encouraging our members to get off the beaten track to ensure the provincial and rural centres outside the traditional ‘hotspots’ receive a fairer share of the economic benefits of tourism.
“It’s often under-valued, but the fact is the domestic market provides close on 60 percent of this country’s tourism industry revenue and we’re proud to be part of that.”[/COLOR]
[COLOR=rgb(12.549020%, 12.549020%, 12.549020%)]For more information, contact:[/COLOR]
[COLOR=rgb(12.549020%, 12.549020%, 12.549020%)]Bruce Lochore,
NZMCA CEO[/COLOR]
[COLOR=rgb(12.549020%, 12.549020%, 12.549020%)](027) 298 5647 [/COLOR]

 

[HurricaneSmith]

I sincerely hope Bruce Lochore doesn't consider a career move into diplomacy. He just might not be up to it.

:Surprised_Face_Emoj
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[Izwozral]

Sledgehammer to crack a nut but...... I do have some sympathy with their viewpoint. We found the Kiwi's fiercely proud of their country and environment and witnessed on more than a few occasions some tourists abusing the environment, defecating, littering and damaging fencing and trees. We tended to have a gentle word with them, the Kiwi's were more forthright in their condemnation.
The main perpetrators tended to be young gap year students who would buy an old banger, throw a mattress in the back and tour the country with a few dollars in the back pocket. Nothing wrong with that per se, we have done similar, but, there was a percentage of them who had no respect for the environment or their hosts.
A large percentage of campsites require you to have a self containment certificate, this was largely ignored by a significant number of 'mattress people' because they knew they could get away with it. In most cases there was a $200 fine for breaching this rule, however, we never witnessed this being enforced, although we did hear anecdotal evidence of it.
Imho, the answer is too strictly enforce the rule, the fines would more than cover the cost of policing it, if they are not able to pay then the car should be impounded. Harsh, I know but NZ being a relatively new country knows more than most just how fragile their environment is. It would be tragic if the diversity and fragility were lost forever by pleasure seekers on a short term gawp fest.
And, yes, I am aware that, we, relatively wealthy pleasure seekers in a MH, are also having a negative impact on the environment just by being there. In mitigation, we were fortunate to have money to spend and feel that we contributed to the tourist dollar economy.

 

[Owlhouse]

It's amazing what can happen.... Guess what - the NZMCA web site suddenly has a subtle change to the wording and now says overseas affiliated club members can join. This includes the Caravan and Motorhome Club here. Has someone had a word in someones shell like????