Gordon Martin (78) and Alan Martin (65) are not related but have known each other and worked together as manager and assistant manager for more than 15 years.
They were prompted to come forward yesterday after public criticism of the Queenstown Lakes District Council for not releasing more information about the camping ground's future in time for a debate on a proposed sports hub for Wanaka.
The men work for the camping ground lessee, Philip Hensmann, who has agreed to relinquish the camp lease to the landowner, the council, in August 2010.
"Neither of us are seeking long-term employment after the lease expires. We don't have an axe to grind. We are not trying to keep our jobs. We just want to get information out there," the men said yesterday.
Submissions on the sports hub discussion document close with the council on Friday.
A working party has identified the camping ground and adjacent showgrounds as its preferred sports hub site and have suggested the camp be closed.
If residents and the council agrees with the working party, it is feared the camp will close, ending more than 40 years of camping in central Wanaka.
The camp managers said Mr Hensmann had agreed they could talk to the media but could not disclose private commercial information at this point.
The camp was doing very good business, with tourists, visiting sports teams and regular summer holiday makers and hosted 35,000 people a year.
The managers said people were asking them if the camp still had value because feasibility was an important factor in forming opinions on whether to use it for sports facilities.
The public also wanted feasibility information from the council because it was four years since a district-wide camping ground review recommended the camp be upgraded to the tune of $5 million, with no sign of further studies, Gordon Martin said.
Financial information on several reconfigurations was needed, such as a camp on a reduced footprint of mainly motel units, compared to a larger camp that still included tent and camper van sites, he said.
"Even as late as this week we are being told that the council is still working on them. I, along with many others, believe these should have been made public long ago, and dealt with before this sports study, or at least at the same time . . .
I can't understand why they've gone to all this trouble for the sportspeople and yet we don't know it [the camp] is available or not," Gordon Martin said.
The camp was "absolutely" of value, with last year's income one of the best.
Using publicly available statistics from the Holiday Park Association of New Zealand, it could be calculated that each of the 35,000 visitors translated into at least 75,000 "bed nights".
If each visitor spent $95 to $100 a night, that could produce $7 million for the town, Gordon Martin said.
Camper van and tent sites provided 75% of the turnover and a 8m by 10m tent site could provide a $60 return per night.
A "big percentage" of visitors were repeat guests and 150 young people had already booked ahead for the Christmas-New Year holidays.
The camp was not just for "poor people" in the winter and became home for up to 70 residents involved in the snow industry, Gordon Martin said.
Queenstown Lakes District Council consultant Roger Taylor said yesterday he was on track to produce the camp report for the Wanaka Community Board by October.
He had obtained some general information relating to feasibility from the Holiday Park Association and the Ministry of Tourism but has not been able to obtain specific information from the camp lessee.
