Holiday parks seeking Chinese visitors

Holiday parks seeking Chinese visitors

Holiday parks are making efforts to encourage Chinese visitors to take road trips when they visit New Zealand.

China is New Zealand’s fastest growing source of visitors but they are not familiar with the independent self-drive style of travel, Holiday Accommodation Parks Association of NZ (HAPNZ) Chief Executive Fergus Brown says.

Attracting more Chinese to travel by campervan and stay in holiday parks will help this sector of the tourism industry benefit from the fast-growing China market, Mr Brown says.

“We believe this style of travel is one of the best ways to experience New Zealand, and we want to share that with our Chinese visitors. Getting more Chinese travellers into the regions will also benefit local economies,” Mr Brown says.

HAPNZ has hosted Chinese travel agents on a campervan trip in the South Island and is running a marketing programme to attract Chinese visitors.

It has also offered cultural awareness training to holiday park operators to help them understand what Chinese visitors are looking for.

Similar initiatives are planned to target the Korean market in the next year, Mr Brown says.

These efforts back up the theme of the recent 2012 Holiday Parks Conference in Queenstown, Mr Brown says.

“There has been a strong focus on innovation and business owners taking responsibility for their own success. Even in difficult times, businesses can succeed if operators are innovative and take action,” he says.

In his report to the conference, HAPNZ president Richard Gunson encourages members to take every opportunity to learn from others about how they can improve their businesses.

“We are not immune to the challenges facing the wider economy but we can ensure we are embracing every aspect of best practice to improve our parks’ performance,” Mr Gunson says.

“We are fortunate to have a number of very innovative members who push the envelope on a number of aspects in their parks from whom we can all learn.”

He notes that Rugby World Cup 2011 brought good numbers of visitors to many holiday parks around the country.

“Without RWC, 2011 would have been a bleak year for our sector,” he says.

However, holiday park visitors have tracked up in the last few months and the sector hopes to end this year on similar numbers to 2011, he says.

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