A Strategic Approach to the Caravan and Camping Industry 2012

Family Parks
They have a well presented website where people can buy gift vouchers,
download guidebooks, join their club to receive discounts, sign up to their e-
newsletter, find out about special offers, enter in competitions, read park
reviews and use their trip planner.
Family Parks is a marketing group representing the interests of 160+ holiday parks
within Australia and New Zealand. The membership based organisation has 40,000
loyalty club members. Specific activities include:
Big4
Advertising in the Western Australia Caravan Park guide.
Print advertisement in the West Australia Newspaper to coincide with the
caravan& camping show.
Incorporating Western Australia stories in their club member e-newsletter and
web site promotions.
The group is planning a Western Australia focussed episode on the Great
Australian Doorstep
Big4 is a marketing group representing the interests of 170+ holiday parks within
Australia. The franchise based model has a strong loyalty program with 150,000
members. Specific activities include:
Website - with online bookings, special offers, holiday park finder
YouTube - short films profiling caravan parks
Charity events/promotions such as ‘Camp and Care’
Price based promotions ‘Come Camp with Big4 for Free’
BIG4 Passport - memento of every short break, weekend escape or journey of a
lifetime that is taken around Australia. Once participants have collected 25, 50
and 75 BIG4 stamps, they are acknowledged with a souvenir reward and listed
on the BIG4 Passport Honour Board.
Competitions e.g. September BIG News Competition - The Logo Board Game
Free email newsletter
Club membership - offering discounts off caravan parks
Discovery Holiday Parks
Discovery Holiday Parks is the largest owner and operator of lifestyle holiday parks in
Australia, providing a broad range of accommodation to suit any need. Since December
2004, Discovery Holiday Parks has continued to build its portfolio in strategic locations
across Australia. Alliances currently exist with BIG4; Top Tourist and Family Parks to
ensure maximum exposure to the Discovery Holiday Parks name as it grows to secure
the position as market leader in the accommodation park industry. Discovery currently
own and operate 30 holiday parks, 6 of which are in Western Australia. Specific activities
include:
Website offering a directory of participating parks, online bookings,
competitions and special offers
A membership program and e-newsletter
Smaller Independent Operators
Smaller independent operators show varying commitment to marketing. Professionally
run coastal parks generally have good representation online with a website and
sometimes even an online booking system and a social media strategy. A few run print
advertising in weekend newspapers and targeted online and offline publications
(magazines and newsletters).
Smaller inland caravan parks and campgrounds generally speaking do not appear to
have such a strong online presence with dated websites or none at all.
Representation on the Australian Tourism Data Warehouse is also limited with just 25
percent of caravan parks overall listed, which includes both smaller independent
operators and the larger groups.
Smaller independent operator’s participation in Visitor Centre activities (memberships
and marketing programs) is higher than their participation in Regional Tourism
Organisations activities (memberships and marketing programs), this is perhaps in part
due to cost of participation and added benefits from visitor centres acting as a booking
channel. Visitor centres are an important source of information on caravan and
camping opportunities and most have a list or a directory of facilities in their local area.
Opportunities for Improvement
It is recommended that a full marketing strategy be compiled for the caravan and
camping sector to analyse in detail:
A Strategic Approach to Caravan and Camping Tourism in Western Australia Page 68