Holiday park confidence cools

Holiday park confidence cools

The onset of winter has cooled business confidence among holiday park owners but overall they are still feeling positive.

The Holiday Parks Business Confidence Monitor for May/June shows confidence levels are at +45, indicating that 45% more respondents are currently optimistic than pessimistic.

This is down from +65 in April/May and a peak of +73 in March/April.

Business confidence for the next 12 months also decreased by three points to +68.

Holiday Parks Association New Zealand (HAPNZ) Chief Executive Fergus Brown says less favourable weather conditions at this time of year have an effect on the confidence of holiday park owners.

“This clearly came through when we questioned them about the factors driving demand at this time of year. Weather conditions were cited as the most important negative influence on demand, while the appeal of the local area continues to be the most important factor in bringing people to holiday parks,” Mr Brown says.

“We expect that confidence will pick up as summer approaches – it will be good to see if there are clear seasonal trends when we have 12 months of data.”

The Holiday Parks Business Confidence Monitor, developed and managed by Angus & Associates*, surveys HAPNZ’s 300 members. It began in December 2012/January 2013.

About a third of the HAPNZ members completing the latest monitor said demand in May/June was up on the same time last year, and 29% felt demand had decreased. 33% thought there was no change from April/May 2012.

For the coming June/July period, 49% of respondents expected no change in demand levels compared with last year. 21% expected demand to increase and 24% expected a decrease.

* 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.

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