Holiday parks around New Zealand have had a booming summer, with more than two million guests in January, a new record for that month.
Holiday Parks NZ Chief Executive, Fergus Brown said that internal data and official accommodation figures indicate that parks had a great post-Christmas season, aided by good weather.
“Summer is always our busiest time of year. The cost of living does not seem to have deterred most Kiwis from staying with us, although we suspect some may have cut their holidays a little shorter this year. But any vacancies have been quickly taken up by other New Zealanders and overseas visitors looking for accommodation.”
The loyalty many Kiwis have shown for their favourite holiday sites had sustained the holiday park sector over the Covid period, he said. The association estimates it holds about a quarter of the accommodation market, the third biggest behind motels and hotels.
The holiday park sector provides 38% of New Zealand’s commercial accommodation capacity and 31% of commercial guest nights.
• In the year ended 31 December 2021 holiday parks hosted 7.7 million guest nights nearly all of whom were domestic guests.
• While staying at holiday parks guests contributed over $1 billion in direct expenditure to local communities.
On a yearly basis, holiday parks notched up 9,443,300 guest nights, 13.8% higher than the previous year to January.
Holiday parks have reported that February has continued the strong start to the year with a good mix of domestic and international visitors staying.
