The person was later flown to Kew Hospital in Invercargill with serious injuries.
The car was carrying two Southern Institute of Technology students and another passenger.
The campervan was carrying two adults and and two children, believed to be German.
One of the children was treated at hospital, while the others in the campervan were treated at the scene.
The police serious crash unit was still investigating the smash, with the scene examination expected to be completed today, Acting Senior Sergeant Craig Dinnissen of the police southern district command centre said.
The cause of the crash was not yet known, but police were hoping to speak to at least one of the drivers today, Mr Dinnissen said.
The death takes the holiday road toll to at least three, following a fatal crash in the Bay of Plenty this morning. A man died and three others were critically injured in a collision between a car and a milk truck near Paengaroa around 8am.
It followed another death in Tauranga on Boxing Day. A man died after the rental car he was driving collided with another car, critically injuring an elderly couple from Omokoroa. They remained in Tauranga Hospital's intensive care unit yesterday.
It is not clear if a fourth death, where a person was electrocuted by power lines after a car hit a power pole in Canterbury last night, will be included in the holiday road toll.
The official holiday road period started at 4pm on Christmas Eve, and runs until 6am on Monday, January 5.
Last year's Christmas-New Year road toll was seven, from a total of 193 reported injury crashes. But the official holiday period was three days shorter than this year.
