Ensuring that visitors have all the information they need to enjoy their stay at Kauri Coast has helped the Northland holiday park (Kauri Coast TOP 10) win the Top Service Award. Chris and Jane McComb of Kauri Coast TOP 10 bought the 2ha Park three years ago and have since set up a steady programme of improvements. “We were very pleased to win this award because it shows we’re doing things right. It’s important for us that everyone who visits here has a really good time. It’s all about the people. We try to provide them with as much information as possible about the things they can see and do while they’re staying with us. And when they leave, we’ll try and ensure that one of us says goodbye and waves them on their way,” Chris said. Jane said their approach is to help people get the most from their holidays. “The whole essence is that everyone who stays here is our guest and we want to create a memorable experience for them. That’s from little things such as our communal herb gardens through to taking our guests on night time guided walks through the Kauri forests where they will hopefully see a kiwi.” In October, Chris and Jane will open a new equestrian center to cater for riding holidays where people can bring their own horses and riding lessons will also be available. The center will also have up to four horses of its own for beginners. Jane is a keen horsewoman and has an international coaching certificate as a riding instructor. During the busiest month of January, about two thirds of holiday makers are from Auckland and Northland while the rest of the year is a mix of international and New Zealand visitors. The park features 100 powered and unpowered sites, together with 11 cabins/motels catering for about 40 people. Kauri Coast TOP 10 Holiday Park is no stranger to accolades, last year winning the Supreme Award.
This year the Supreme Award was won by the well-deserved Rotorua TOP 10 Holiday Park. They were also voted People’s Choice for the second consecutive year and were runners-up for the Best Web Profile. The young couple bought a half share in the central city park from Jared’s parents in 2012 and live on site with their two sons, aged four and six years. “We’re so humbled and honoured to have received this prestigious award. We have had so much support from TOP 10 Holiday Parks, HAPNZ and our local community. We are so proud to bring this award home to Rotorua, especially for our parents, Dave & Carol Adams,” Jasmine and Jared said. Jasmine believes crucial to running a successful tourism venture is the ability to act on customer feedback. “We’re continually striving to improve our business and we’re always looking at new things to implement. We have recently undertaken a lot of renovations and we have some really exciting plans for the next year. Many of the initiatives come from listening to our customers through various online review sites and social media is a great way for us to engage with our customers.” In the past year, Rotorua TOP 10’s Facebook followers have grown from 18,000 last year to 22,500 now and their Twitter and Instagram accounts are continually rising. “Being Rotorua’s only 5 star holiday park means we do everything we can to provide the best accommodation and facilities to our guests. We had a new website designed earlier in the year and have just added interactive cameras to the site so people can view our business from a more realistic perspective.” Jared said there were exciting changes in the holiday park industry. He is on the executive board of the Holiday Accommodation Parks Association of New Zealand (HAPNZ) while Jasmine is the regional representative to HAPNZ parks. Rotorua TOP 10 Holiday Park covers over 2ha in the central city. It has 60 powered sites, approximately 40 non-powered sites, and 17 rooms. International guests comprise about 70% of patronage, with most coming from the UK, Germany, Australia, France, USA Canada, Japan, China, Singapore, and the Netherlands.
Our CEO David Ovendale, explains the TOP 10 Group has invested heavily in upgrading facilities and in training respective owners. “As the third largest provider of visitor accommodation in New Zealand, it’s vital that holiday parks make the right impression because it has positive flow-on effects for the rest of the country and recommendations to other travelers.” The holiday park sector provides 36% of New Zealand’s commercial accommodation capacity and 19% of commercial guest nights. In the year ended February 2016, holiday parks provided more than seven million guest nights. Guest nights to holiday parks generally are made up of 32% international visitors and 68% domestic visitors although TOP 10 has an almost even split. Ovendale said that guests staying at holiday parks contribute over $1 billion in direct expenditure to local communities annually. Approximately $612 million (60%) of the expenditure is from domestic travelers with the balance of $405 million (40%) spent by international travelers.