Holiday park confidence at near record level

Holiday park confidence at near record level

Holiday park owners have a spring in their step, with confidence levels rising to near record levels and Labour Weekend heralding the start of a busy summer.

Business confidence has increased towards the start of the peak holiday period and is almost at its highest ever recorded at +80, reflecting a generally positive mood amongst HAPNZ members, new research shows.

The Holiday Parks Business Confidence Monitor for September/October 2014 indicates that 80% of respondents are currently more optimistic than pessimistic.

This is close to the same level of confidence as at the end of summer 2014, when the monitor reached +81.

The Holiday Parks Business Confidence Monitor, developed and managed by Angus & Associates*, surveys the Holiday Accommodation Parks Association of New Zealand’s (HAPNZ) 300 members.

“With confidence for the next 12 months also relatively high at +84, this is expected to continue to rise into summer 2014/15,” HAPNZ Chief Executive Fergus Brown says.

Demand for this month compared to the same month last year increased eight points from August/September 2014 to +20. 46% of members surveyed thought demand had increased, 26% believed it had decreased and 24% saw no change.

Labour Weekend provided holiday parks with good domestic visitor numbers throughout the country, Mr Brown says. Most parks reported that their motel and cabin accommodation was near full with some keen folk even getting their tents out.

Northland, the Bay of Plenty, Taupo, Hawke’s Bay and Rotorua were popular in the North Island, while Nelson and Central Otago reported good numbers in the south.

With most holiday parks now offering high quality motel and cabin accommodation, they provide a year-round accommodation option for domestic and international visitors, Mr Brown says.

“Over Labour Weekend, many areas held events such as the Waimate 50 GT Series, the National Street Rod Association met in New Plymouth, there was a Maori Golf Tournament at Baylys Beach, Te Anau hosted a Stabicraft fishing comp and Hawke’s Bay welcomed many sports teams visiting for athletics, football, cricket and volleyball. This shows the value of holding events to attract visitors to regions out of peak season.”

* Angus & Associates is a premier supplier of marketing, research and strategic planning services. They are focused on delivering informed insights for a range of private and public sector clients, particularly within the tourism and leisure sectors.

Key facts:
• The holiday park sector provides 38% of New Zealand’s commercial accommodation capacity and 20% of actual guest nights
• In the past year holiday parks provided 6,447,097 guest nights
• Guest nights to holiday parks are made up of approximately 32% international visitors and 68% domestic visitors
• While staying at holiday parks guests contribute $757 million in direct expenditure to the local communities
• Approximately $385 million (51%) of the expenditure is contributed by domestic travellers, with the balance of $372 million (49%) by international travellers

For more information: www.holidayparks.co.nz

ENDS

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