Holiday parks providing economic support to communities

Holiday parks providing economic support to communities

Holiday park operators spend more than $700,000 in their local communities each year, new research shows.

The average annual spend of $707,000 goes primarily on wages, maintenance, capital expenditure and rent/lease payments, according to the study carried out by Angus & Associates* for the Holiday Accommodation Parks Association of New Zealand (HAPNZ).

Researchers investigated detailed expenditure data from a selection of holiday parks spread around the country and of varying sizes.

They found the average total income of the holiday parks in the study was
$1.09 million, or $7179 per site/unit.

The average total expenditure of the holiday parks was $988,000 or $6510 per site/unit.

“It’s revealing that around 72% of holiday parks’ total expenditure stayed in their local communities. A similar study in Australia found that only about 56% of spending stayed local,” HAPNZ Chief Executive Fergus Brown says.

“We know that visitors staying at holiday parks make a huge contribution to the local economies – a previous study found they spend $773 million a year. This new research shows that holiday park operators are also making enormous contributions to their communities.”

Combining visitor and park expenditure, it is estimated that holiday parks’ total economic contribution is around $1.17 billion a year.

“As well as financial expenditure, holiday park operators make a range of non-financial contributions to their communities. This often includes being committee and board members of various community and local government groups,” Mr Brown says.

“Some parks estimate that the time spent undertaking this type of work is worth as much as $10,000 a year.”

With more than 300 holiday parks around New Zealand, the sector provides valuable employment and economic opportunities in every region, he says.

* 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 36% of New Zealand’s commercial accommodation capacity and 19% of commercial guest nights
In the year ended Feb 2015 holiday parks provided 6,733,742 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 almost $1 billion in direct expenditure to the local communities
Approximately $594 million (59%) of the expenditure is contributed by domestic travellers, with the balance of $405 million (41%) by international travellers.
Expenditure by international visitors contributes directly to New Zealand’s export earnings.
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