Australia’s holiday parks are big business, and one of the country’s largest operators has just given us a pretty good indication of where the sector is heading.
Discovery Parks has passed the 100-park milestone after G’day Group acquired four former Breeze Holiday Parks across Victoria, the Northern Territory and Western Australia in a deal involving more than $40 million in acquisition and upgrade investment.
But this is only the first part of the story. According to G’day Group, it plans to spend up to $250 million each year in regional Australia through further acquisitions and upgrades, while setting its sights on doubling the business by 2031.
At the same time, millions are being spent upgrading existing holiday parks, with the recent $10 million redevelopment of Discovery Parks – Katherine River adding new cabins and resort-style facilities.
For Australian caravanners, it raises a question: what does the holiday park of the future look like?
The latest acquisition adds four properties to the Discovery Parks portfolio:
The four former Breeze Holiday Parks take the Discovery Parks and Resorts network to 101 owned properties around Australia.
According to G’day Group, the acquisition and planned upgrades represent an investment of more than $40 million, with the four properties expected to contribute more than $50 million in annual economic benefit and support more than 420 full-time jobs. It’s a significant milestone for a company that started with just three caravan parks in Western Australia in 2004.
Today, G’day Group has more than 360 properties within its broader network, including the 100-plus owned Discovery Parks and Resorts properties and more than 260 independently owned parks operating within the G’day Parks network. And it isn’t planning to stop there.
G’day Group says it plans to invest up to $250 million annually in regional Australia through a combination of further acquisitions and significant investment in existing properties. Flagship Discovery Parks earmarked for investment include Byron Bay and Bargara on the east coast, Woodman Point in Western Australia, Canberra and Cradle Mountain in Tasmania.
G’day Group’s goal is substantial. Founder and CEO Grant Wilckens says the company wants to double in size by 2031, with ambitions to grow into a $4.5 billion business. For an industry that relies on road trips, caravanning and regional travel, the scale of that investment is noteworthy.
It also shows just how far the traditional caravan park has come.
For generations of Australian travellers, the caravan park formula was relatively straightforward. Powered and unpowered sites, a few cabins, an amenities block, camp kitchen and perhaps a swimming pool if you were lucky.
Those fundamentals certainly haven’t disappeared, but major investment across the sector is creating holiday parks that cater to a much broader mix of travellers. The $10 million redevelopment of Discovery Parks – Katherine is a good example.
The redevelopment added 13 deluxe two-bedroom cabins overlooking a new resort-style swimming pool and BBQ area. The Australian-made cabins feature full kitchens and elevated balconies and have been designed partly to increase the park’s appeal to travelling families and visitors looking for modern accommodation while exploring the Katherine region.
It’s a very different proposition from simply providing somewhere to pull up the caravan for the night. But is that such a bad thing? I don’t think so, particularly for regional tourism.
Holiday parks occupy an important position within Australian tourism. They’re not simply accommodation providers or somewhere to pull up the caravan for the night, they’re becoming regional tourism destinations in their own right. For RV travellers, a national network of parks also provides essential stopping points along touring routes, often in places without the accommodation capacity of Australia’s major cities and established resort destinations.
The economic contribution is nothing to be sneezed at. G’day Group says its operations support more than 16,600 jobs nationwide and contribute around $2 billion to regional economies each year.
Its reach also extends well beyond owning holiday parks. The group operates the G’day Parks network and G’day Rewards loyalty program, with more than 280,000 paid members, and owns road-trip and camping app WikiCamps and tourism booking technology businesses Bookeasy and BookIt.
Taken together, it’s an indication of just how sophisticated the business surrounding the humble Australian road trip has become.
For caravanners, increased investment will deliver better amenities, recreation facilities and shared spaces, while making holiday parks more appealing to groups where not everyone travels with an RV.
But as operators invest in cabins, pools and facilities designed to attract a broader range of travellers, it raises a question: where does the traditional powered site fit into the holiday park of the future?
There’s no suggestion caravan sites are about to disappear. They remain fundamental to the sector and the road-tripping audience it serves. But as the humble caravan park evolves into something much bigger, it’s a space RV travellers will no doubt be watching closely.
Regardless of whether you like the way holiday parks are evolving or not, there’s no denying they’re still a popular choice. Discovery Parks reaching 101 owned properties is an impressive milestone and with up to $250 million in annual regional investment planned, more acquisitions on the agenda and major upgrades already transforming its existing properties, G’day Group has made a sizeable bet on Australians continuing to explore their own backyard.
