THUNDER BAY - Some campers continue to be shut out of city-owned campgrounds because of policies requiring a credit card, but city parks staff say the benefits outweigh the frustrations.
Last weekend, Mitchell Sameluk was planning an overnight camping trip to Trowbridge Falls Campground, but when he tried to book a campsite, he was asked for a credit card number.
“Why can’t I pay cash?” he asked over the phone.
“If you don’t have a credit card, you cannot camp here,” he said he was told.
According to Cory Halvorsen, the city's manager of parks and open spaces, a policy has been in place for the last two years requiring all campers to provide a credit card number when booking spaces at city owned campgrounds such as Trowbridge Falls or Chippewa Park.
Halvorsen said the policy was added because campsites were being damaged and cash deposits were not going far enough to cover the costs.
“We had had many issues in the past where either people were failing to provide the cash deposit appropriately or damages occurred when a cash deposit had been put down that didn’t necessarily cover the costs,” he said.
Currently, there are no other options, such as cash deposit or pre-paid credit cards when booking a campsite.
“There’s not a strong enough tie to the individual who has taken responsibility for the site unless there is the credit card and the financial component there,” Halvorsen said. “It really has reduced the number of issues we’ve had to deal with in terms of dollars or on site issues.”
But that is of little help to Sameluk and other campers who do not have a credit card.
“If you come travelling across the country and stop in Thunder Bay and you stop at Trowbridge and don’t have a credit card, you can’t camp there,” he said. “I’ve been camping at Trowbridge for as long as I can remember and I’ve always been a respectable camper.”
Sameluk said he has seen positive changes at the Trowbridge campground over the years, but he wasn’t too disappointed that he got turned away.
“There are other campsites,” he said. “The bottom line is, Trowbridge and Chippewa Park are going to be losing a lot of money.”
Halvorsen said when the credit card policy was created, campers who may not have credit cards were considered.
“But it seemed to be the minority of campers who did not have a credit card available,” he said. “The decision to go forward requiring the credit card was still the best decision to go with considering everything.”
And any money lost, according to Halvorsen, does not come anywhere near the administrative costs or potential damage campsites were encountering before.
“We realized it may have an impact that there may be a few people were now not able to book, but overall the operation is running smoother and we are still able to fill the spots,” he said.
The city of Thunder Bay website does not say a credit card is required when booking a campsite and Halvorsen said the city will be looking into the possible oversight.
