18/12/2017 - Press Release
The distinctive new boutique beachfront camping ground at Ross Beach, 30km south of Hokitika, has joined New Zealand’s largest holiday park chain, TOP 10 Holiday Parks Group.
Everything you need to know about this exciting new park can be found on the TOP 10 Holiday Park website.
The group now comprises 50 holiday parks, after recently adding five new locations to its portfolio. The others are at Paihia in the Bay of Islands, Motutere Bay near Taupo, Cambridge, and Beachaven in Waihi.
Ross Beach, which opened in August, features a dozen upcycled shipping containers converted into a series of accommodation pods. These are divided into apartment and sleeper pods, depending on the level of fit out, and accommodate 31 people in total with a further 35 powered and unpowered sites.
Covering two hectares, Ross Beach was two years in development and is now being leased and managed by Sue and Andy Stile. Originally from the UK, they’ve been in holiday park management for 17 years in Australia and further afield but have always wanted to permanently settle in New Zealand.
“This is the perfect opportunity for us to do what we love, in a country we love. To find such a quirky and unusual park, right by the coast, on the West Coast, we couldn’t help ourselves.”
Sue says there are so many things which go into making for a great holiday park.
“Everyone has different expectations of the experience they are looking to have on holiday. But we feel that as long as guests can relax, enjoy themselves and be respectful of the park’s rules, which to be honest are generally common sense, their holiday will be a memorable one.
“A park needs to be easy to navigate, offer privacy for those who don’t want to be with others at all times, and offer everyone the opportunity to unwind and relax. Our park at Ross Beach is small enough that we get to meet all the guests personally and can offer that level of service.”
In line with the TOP 10 group’s requirements, Sue and Andy are already making improvements, adding playground facilities for children and providing some bikes so that guests can have a small taster of the West Coast Wilderness Trail, which is right on the park’s doorstep.
David Ovendale, TOP 10’s chief executive, says Ross Beach offers a unique experience and fits perfectly into the group’s portfolio.
“Our aim is to grow strategically while maintaining our unwavering commitment to quality and to creating a great experience for our visitors in whichever of our holiday parks they stay at throughout the country. We’re not just about growth for growth’s sake. Any growth cannot be to the detriment of the premium brand we’ve built over the past 35 years.”
Ovendale says the goal is to fill any strategic gaps so that its customers have the best possible choice of holiday destinations across New Zealand and added that the “unique boutique feel of Ross Beach Holiday Park, its magnificent location pretty much right on the sand of an iconic rugged West Coast beach and the fact that Sue and Andy feel like a fantastic cultural fit for our group, together were compelling reasons to enthusiastically welcome the park into the Group”.
The holiday park sector provides 36% of New Zealand’s commercial accommodation capacity and 20% of commercial guest nights. In the year ended September 2017 holiday parks provided 7,756,897 guest nights, four per cent up on the previous year.
TOP 10’s visitor numbers are more or less evenly split between Kiwis and international tourists, largely from the more traditional markets of Australia, UK, US, Germany, France, and Switzerland. There are a growing, but still small, numbers of customers from South East Asian countries and China.
Ovendale says the focus is on customers who want quality accommodation and for whom value is a key consideration; families, younger couples without children and active retirees.
While staying at holiday parks, guests contribute over $1 billion in direct expenditure to local
communities. Approximately $612 million (60%) of the expenditure is from domestic travelers with the balance of $405 million (40%) spent by international travelers.
“There’s really solid growth in the sector and holiday parks are now out-performing the growth being seen in other areas of the accommodation sector including hotels, motels and back-packers. And the icing on the cake is that TOP 10’s are largely out-performing holiday park sector growth by a stretch too.”
Ovendale says successful camping grounds are those that have a broad range of amenities, great customer service, and clean facilities.
“A growing trend is, where possible, for parks to have zones so different interest groups can do different things without impacting others. Our ultimate goal is to deliver ‘memories for life, in amazing places, with the people who matter the most."
Earlier this year, TOP 10 segmented their parks into three tiers - Premium, Superior and Classic - to help customers with their choice. The move to categorise the parks allows TOP 10 to do a better job at ensuring the expectations of your our customer, will be more closely aligned where it matters when you arrive at a holiday park. Ross Beach TOP 10 Holiday Park joins the group as a Classic park, so it offer everything you’ve come to expect from a TOP 10 including a kids playground, BBQ area and TV Room plus limited (100mb) free wifi*/day and a number of recreation facilities for you to enjoy during your stay. There's lots of exciting changes and upgrades in the works for Ross Beach TOP 10 over the coming 18 months, so watch this space.
Book your next holiday at Ross Beach TOP 10 Holiday Park.