Auckland campervan rental company Spaceships supports a national policy on freedom camping.
Founder and director Neil Geddes told the Otago Daily Times yesterday he did not disagree with the idea of a ban on freedom camping but he did not believe that would solve the problem of rubbish and human excrement being left at scenic locations.
"There are some places, some communities that would gladly allow [freedom camping] in certain areas and I think that's the sort of approach that we need."
The Otago Conservation Board has asked its national body to assess the value of the campervan industry and find ways to address problems of waste disposal.
Mr Geddes, whose company operates 250 vehicles in New Zealand and others in Australia, believes it is important rules are consistent across New Zealand and even Australia.
"It would be troublesome to just ban it in Otago, for example, because our clients are travelling nationally and it would be hard to communicate the local rules to them."
He used the example of the Coromandel, where freedom camping is banned and camping ground facilities are insufficient to cope with demand.
"People get there and they get a fine and they wonder what they've done wrong, even though we do our best to educate them about the options.
"So, I don't think people should automatically have a right to freedom camp, but I think there needs to be a national policy on how it's done."
Mr Geddes provides a booklet for customers, in English and German, that encourages the use of Department of Conservation camps.
"The first paragraph of our magazine actually says generally free camping isn't legal in New Zealand.
"We don't recommend it and we don't believe you need to anyway.
"I do get [annoyed] when I hear the assumption that companies like us are just telling people to go out and stay wherever they want and that we use it as a sales point."
"We certainly don't."
Mr Geddes said the last survey the company had done of its customers showed 72% stayed in camping grounds.
"We get the odd comment from customers about hostile approaches from locals, but very rarely.
"Mainly, we just get glowing reports on everything about New Zealand."
His company offered tourists portable toilets to carry with them in their vehicles.
"It's an option people don't usually take up because of the space they take."
He did not accept "the assumption" all international tourists "were bad and want to mess with our country".
His customers were well educated, environmentally aware and wanted to do "the right thing".
"The difficulty with New Zealand often is how to know what the right thing is . . .
"There is no standardisation."
Mr Geddes said one of his "pet peeves" was the lack of infrastructure for disposing of litter.
"The rubbish around the bins at the roadside stops is often because the bins simply aren't big enough.
"If you travel into Auckland with a big bag of rubbish, where do you put it? These are all issues that aren't addressed nationally."
