Northern holiday parks leading the pack

Northern holiday parks leading the pack

A Warkworth holiday park has taken spending a penny to a whole new level, investing $1 million to upgrade its bathroom facilities.

Sandspit Holiday Park, run by Jared and Zena Morrison, has won the Resco – Best Upgrade Award at the annual Holiday Parks Awards.

The million dollar upgrade is an example of the big investments being made in holiday parks around the country, Holiday Accommodation Parks Association of New Zealand’s (HAPNZ) Chief Executive Fergus Brown says.

The number of entries in the Best Upgrade Award this year was outstanding, with a number of entrants spending more than $1 million, he says.

“It shows the commitment from our members to improving their product in order to deliver an outstanding visitor experience.”

Sandspit Holiday Park’s old ablutions block dated back to the 1960s and was no longer big enough to cater for the number of holiday makers using the park - up to 600-plus at peak times, Mr and Mrs Morrison say. The camp kitchen also needed upgrading to meet demand.

But not content with building basic bathroom and kitchen facilities, the couple constructed a building in the Victorian style to complement historic early 1900s buildings still in use on the site, including the property’s original homestead, the old Sandspit schoolhouse and post office.

The Awards ceremony was held during the holiday park sector’s annual conference, attended by about 300 HAPNZ members.

Other northern holiday parks recognised in the 2015 Holiday Parks Awards are:

Resco Best Upgrade Award finalists – Orewa TOP 10 Holiday Park and Ruakaka Beach Holiday Park
Tourism Industry Association (TIA) Innovation Award finalists – Mangawhai Heads Holiday Park, Ruakaka Holiday Park, Whangateau Holiday Park
AA Traveller Spirit of Hospitality Award finalist - Whangateau Holiday Park

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