Problems for the BVCD, which pushes for the reopening of campsites but condemns wild camping

We received from our colleague and German representative Peter Hirtschulz an interesting update. Last Friday, April 9^th, the German Federal Association of Campsites (Bundesverband der Campingwirtschaft in Deutschland e.V., well known as BVCD) sent out a newsletter stating that the current presence of campers on RVs outside campsites (closed because of the German Corona rules) is growing and asking for some help to the owner and manager of campsites to monitor the situation. But what has exactly happened? Her what BVCD wrote:

Dear campsite operators,

contrary to the current Corona Protection Ordinance, camping is currently increasingly taking place outside camping and motorhome sites. As a result of the closed businesses, uncontrolled, illegal camping is taking place on tent and parking sites and other places.

On the one hand, we want to stop this, and on the other hand, we want to use it to show politicians that the ban on overnight tourist accommodation in our sector does not serve any purpose. Instead of staying at home, campers are looking for less safe alternatives either way. In contrast, our operations with testing strategy, use of tracking APPs, etc. offer clear advantages to contain the pandemic.

Do you know of places where illegal camping is taking place that are not yet marked on our map? Please send us the following information by email to info@bvcd.de.

1. place/address
2. time
3. source (link to newspaper article, own experience etc.)
4. number of persons and pictures (if available)

We will compile all locations and publish them in the map below. The map will be updated continuously. We will inform about further steps during the collection in due time on our website and / or in the internal BVCD newsletter.

This action was considered not properly “polite”, and caused some reactions: shortly after the publication, a storm of indignation arose. On YouTube, some videos have harshly criticized the association. Currently, a protest is raging on the Internet regarding this action, calling among other things for a total boycott of the BVCD and all its affiliated companies and campsites.

Promptly, yesterday the association wrote:

In the newsletter from April 9^th, 2021, we took up the current topic of wild camping. It was not our concern; it is not and never will be to “denounce” or even report individual campers. This has obviously been misunderstood and has subsequently been misrepresented on social media. We would like to expressly apologize for the resulting impression!

As representatives of the association, we unfortunately had to find out that in the dialogue with politicians the problem is simply not recognized and that accommodation providers must remain closed for tourism purposes. Rather, it is about showing politics and authorities the scope of current travel activities, sensitizing them, entering a deeper dialogue, and finding common solutions. Specifically, this means: the opening of the campsites and mobile home and parking spaces in compliance with the hygiene concepts developed by the association and the companies!

In the current discussion, political decision-makers always oppose travel by stating that it is difficult to trace contacts. The BVCD considers it even more important that the campsites and motorhome parking spaces are opened. The current excesses of wild camping clearly show that travel cannot be prevented. In the opinion of the association, the opening of the accomodations represents the most important step in the control of the travel activity. Hygiene and protection concepts are implemented on our places, there is corresponding documentation of the guests and possibly also test possibilities. Campsites should be perceived by the population as an attractive and safe form of travel.

At the end of the day, all the news about this fact were removed from the BVCD website.