As some holiday park owners survey the landscape in 2017, they may see news that Airbnb is booming in Australia or that the ‘uber of camping’ is going to disrupt the caravan parking industry and feel disheartened.
There are certainly rapid changes taking place: tourism is evolving and well-established business models are being challenged.
But there is good news to be had as well. To quote Roy Wyss of Sunland Caravans, ‘Certainly caravanning and camping are experiencing somewhat of a renaissance period.’ This may be so, but taking the pulse of the industry never hurts.
The best source for industry data is currently the Caravan Industry Association of Australia (CIAA). The CIAA publishes annual reports highlighting industry data and research from the preceding year.
Here are some of the highlights from their most recent report.
- 21,841 recreational vehicles were manufactured in Australia in 2016, which matches a record high in the last 37 years.
- An estimated $1.8 billion of revenue was generated including cabins, powered sites and unpowered sites.
- 5.5 million trips were taken equalling a 22 million nights.
- The vaunted 30-54 age demographic represents 47% of domestic caravan and camping overnight trips in 2016.
- 91% of nights were booked by domestic travelers and (unsurprisingly) Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland had the lion share of nights.
These figures may sound relatively humdrum, but if they didn’t catch your attention the following definitely should.
From a March 2017 CIAA report:
‘This growth saw Australians take a total of 11.7 million caravan and camping overnight trips, which represents a 9% increase on the previous year. The length of time spent caravanning and camping have also increased, with total domestic visitor nights in the sector numbering 51.6 million, growing 16%.’
When a macro view the industry is taken this healthy growth (when compared to the previous year) leaves plenty of room for optimism. Camping has a certain novelty and nostalgia which many people still feel drawn to.
The relative lack of foreign tourists partaking in camping or caravanning also represents an opportunity for park operators to market themselves more effectively.
There is always more work to be done, but the bottom line is that despite challenging local and global economic environments, domestic caravanning and camping continues continues to thrive.
Sources:
1 – Sunland Caravans
2 – CIAA FactSheet
3 – CIAA Report