Association President Sharron King welcomed Board members to the latest NZMCA Board meeting, held in Christchurch on Saturday, August 8.
NZMCA to push back on accommodation levy plan
The NZMCA Board is gearing up to push back on an ‘accommodation levy’ promoted by the tourism industry which the government has indicated it is prepared to consider next year.
In his report to the Board, the NZMCA’s National Manager Property & Policy, James Imlach, warned that Regional Tourism New Zealand, with strong support from local government and major tourism organisations, is advocating for a new tourism funding mechanism that would apply to accommodation stays by both New Zealanders and international visitors.
“If the government is serious about re-visiting its position on the levy, this should be a concern for the NZMCA,” said James.
Based on proposals discussed to date, the levy - which would be in addition to the existing International Visitor Levy that’s already paid by international visitors - will also apply to paid campsites, including DOC campsites, NZMCA Parks and POP sites that charge a fee.
“Some councils, such as QLDC, have actively advocated for a visitor accommodation levy of at least 5% of all short-term accommodation costs paid by visitors,” said James.
“Using the QLDC proposal as a guide, a 5% accommodation levy could cost the NZMCA approximately $115,000 to $125,000 per annum based on estimated park occupancy over the next couple of years. This is on top of additional administration and compliance costs associated with collecting and remitting the levy.”
He explained that those promoting the levy argue that all visitors, including New Zealand families, use local infrastructure and services and should therefore contribute towards the costs they create.
“However, there is a strong counter-argument that New Zealanders already contribute through taxes and local rates and could effectively be paying twice for the same infrastructure and services they already fund,” said James.
“There are also concerns that applying the same levy framework to low-cost camping facilities may be disproportionate, particularly where visitors place relatively limited demand on local infrastructure and the administration costs of collecting the levy may represent a significant share of the revenue generated.”
James said a key issue is ‘whether a separate accommodation levy is necessary at all’.
“New Zealand already has an established visitor funding mechanism through the IVL, which currently applies to international visitors regardless of where they stay.
“An increase to the IVL could potentially achieve many of the same funding objectives without creating a new levy regime that places additional compliance obligations on accommodation providers and, in particular, low-cost campsite operators.
“In our view exploring whether improvements to the existing IVL could provide a simpler, fairer and more efficient solution to the funding issues facing local councils.”
NZMCA Parks update:
- Mt Lees Reserve - The NZMCA’s latest member-only Park at Mt Lees Reserve in Manawatu is now open. Located about 12km from Feilding, the new Park is on a 9,000sqm site that can comfortably accommodate more than 50 vans. Members can relax and unwind at the park, enjoy bush walks, explore the reserve’s rich history, and make the most of the kid-friendly activities on site. As part of our lease agreement, we will support the local Enviro schools programme through the NZMCA Greenfund.
- Welcome Bay - the Association has received further risk assessment on potential slips in the park and are working through practicable solutions.
- Gisborne - the new lease on the popular existing site has been entered into.
- Riversdale Beach - new titles and final settlement will take place in August.
- Weedons – Major repairs to the ROW will be followed by the installation of the children’s playground.
- Glenorchy - an application has been made to QLDC for permission to install a gate.
Park development:
Development of the Orari Gorge NZMCA Park is in progress.
Following the opening of the new Mt Lees Reserve site (see above) contractors will move onto a new site at Manfield (Feilding) soon.
Prospective new NZMCA Parks:
The National Office property team are investigating potential new sites in New Brighton (which has received support from Council), Taumarunui, Whitianga, Whanganui, Gisborne, Greymouth, Te Kuiti and Thames.
LPR camera project underway
Work is underway after the Board’s approval at its June meeting of the rollout of licence plate recognition (LPR) cameras across all NZMCA Parks over the next two to three years following a comprehensive RFP process and successful trial at Ardmore NZMCA Park.
Once fully implemented, the system will automatically confirm whether people accessing NZMCA Parks in their vehicles are financial members or other authorised visitors, whether vehicles used for camping are certified self-contained, and whether the applicable park fee has been paid.
The system will also support park management by directly notifying members of any non-compliance issues. James Imlach advised the Board most of the IT, operational tasks and development work is expected to occur during the first year. This includes installing cameras at priority parks first, developing the supporting software and management dashboard, and integrating the new technology with existing systems.
“During this period, we will also develop the operating procedures needed to manage the system, including monitoring, compliance, privacy, data retention, and cybersecurity protocols.
“Our goal is to have the new system operating at parks where cameras have been installed by the end of Year One, with all NZMCA Parks equipped with LPR cameras and actively monitored by the end of Year Two.
“Year Three will focus on reviewing long-term management arrangements and determining the best operating model for the future of the LPR network,” said James.
National Office will be continuously updating Areas and Park Custodians along the way.
Board moves to disestablish appointed Treasurer’s role
In the process of reviewing the Association’s current governance structure, the Board has determined there is no longer a need for the appointed role of Treasurer on the Board.
President Sharron King says the Treasurer’s role was created many years ago when the Board was doing much of the day-to-day management of the Association - including the management of all financial affairs.
“At that time the role of Treasurer was a critical appointment on the Board to ensure an appointee with the appropriate financial qualifications was available to manage the Association’s financial affairs.
“However it has become clear that the position of Treasurer has effectively become redundant over time as the role no longer has any hands-on input to the financial functions of the Association.”
With the support of the current long-standing Treasurer, Arthur Keane - who had indicated he was standing down at the end of this financial year - the Board believe the position is no longer necessary given the Association has fully-qualified and experienced accounting staff who undertake all work associated with the financial affairs of the Association which are then externally audited.
For members’ information, oversight of the annual external audit of the Association accounts is undertaken by the Board Audit and Risk Committee and is no longer an exclusive role undertaken by the appointed Treasurer.
If this change is accepted the Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee would assume the role of ensuring any areas of financial risk and compliance are appropriately managed by the National Office accounting staff.
Noting that under the Constitution financial expertise would be co-opted when required and that financial oversight would continue to be supported by National Office, the Board decided to prepare a Notice of Motion to remove the appointed Treasurer position from the Constitution.
Members will be able to vote on the NoM in the upcoming election round.
Financial performance
Treasurer Arthur Keane reported the Association’s surplus of $2,187,802 for the nine months to June 30, 2026 was $1,097,843 above the Board’s deliberately conservative budget expectation given the current economic environment.
That result was based on income being above budget by $316,199 (mainly due to subscriptions being above budget by $230,084 and Commissions above budget by $74,002) and expenses under budget by $907,654. Tax expense is above budget by $126,010 as a result.
Membership growth
Thanks largely to the continued impact of the Board’s ‘no joining fees’ offer to direct family members, Association membership continues to grow.
Treasurer Arthur Keane advised the Board new memberships for the nine months to June 30, 2026 were 7,023 – against a budget of 5,891; and net membership growth after resignations was ahead of budget at 928.
As a result, the number of individual members as at June 30, 2026 was 124,882; against a budget expectation of 122,435.
Disciplinary Committee decisions
As required under the NZMCA bylaws, any penalties imposed by the Disciplinary Committee over each two-month period are to be posted on the Association website and published in the next edition of The Motor Caravanner.
In the latest period (May 28 to July 27, 2026) there were eleven active complaints – three of which had been carried over from the previous period - the outcomes of which are as follows:
Warnings given by the Complaints Officer, three; Warnings given by National Office, nil; Issues investigated by the Complaints Officer, no further action, six; Total complaints penalised during this period, nil; Complaints still under investigation, two.
As a result, no penalties were imposed in this period.
Next Board meeting
The NZMCA Board’s next meeting is due to be held in Wellington on October 17, 2026.
Sharron King
NZMCA President
