Holiday parks’ confidence levels cool

Holiday parks’ confidence levels cool

After a record-breaking peak season, holiday park owners are starting to feel the winter chill, new research shows.

The latest Holiday Parks Business Confidence Monitor for April/May 2015, shows confidence has dropped to +69, falling below the previous year’s confidence level for the first time in over 12 months. This confidence level indicates that 69% of respondents are currently more optimistic than pessimistic.

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.

While confidence has historically fallen during April, this is down 7 points on the same time last year and equivalent to the end of last winter in August/September 2014, HAPNZ Chief Executive Fergus Brown says. It comes after a year when the confidence monitor hit record highs of +83 for several months in a row.

Confidence for the next 12 months and perceived demand were also down, suggesting that confidence may fall again into winter.

Demand for April/May 2015 compared to the same month last year decreased 22 points, with 51% of members surveyed saying demand had increased. 22% believed it had decreased and 23% saw no change.

Demand for the coming month compared to the same month last year also decreased 22 points, with 60% expecting no change and 19% expecting demand to increase. 12% expected it to decrease.

“A similar decrease in confidence occurred during the same period last year, and with members mostly attributing less demand to weather conditions, this decreasing confidence is likely to reflect the change of season and extreme weather being experienced across the country,” Mr Brown says.

The Holiday Parks sector will meet for its annual conference in Auckland on
22-25 June, focusing on the theme of ‘Lead to Succeed’. This event is always an excellent opportunity for holiday park owners and their teams to catch up with each other and discuss the sector’s performance, Mr Brown says. For more information and to register, go to www.holidayparks.co.nz/conference-program

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.
•

ENDS

© Scoop Media