Tasman Holiday Parks, the market leader in the trans-Tasman holiday park market, is stepping up its expansion in New Zealand with the acquisition of Christchurch TOP10 Holiday Park.
Tasman Holiday Parks, backed by Tasman Capital, a leading private equity group, is setting its sights on scaling rapidly within the sector on both sides of the ditch.
The fast-moving group has quickly capitalised on emerging opportunities in the holiday park market in New Zealand as travel restrictions are set to ease in a post-COVID environment.
Tasman Holiday Parks, the first trans-Tasman holiday park group has completed a series of acquisitions and developments across New Zealand and Australia totalling more than $250 million over the past 18 months.
The emerging holiday park powerhouse, led by industry veteran Nikki Milne and a management team with more than 75 years’ combined sector experience is the fastest-growing owner, developer, and operator of holiday parks in New Zealand and now employees more than 300 people across New Zealand and Australia.
The addition of the 277-site Christchurch Holiday Park will bring the total number of sites owned by Tasman Holiday Parks to more than 3,000 sites comprising roofed accommodation, caravan and camping sites, and short-term holiday sites.
Tasman Holiday Parks CEO Nikki Milne says the Christchurch acquisition caps off a successful 18 months. The group is launching a consolidated consumer platform, www.tasmanholidayparks.com, to catch the new wave of demand from domestic drive markets as borders reopen.
“New Zealand is a key touring market and is well positioned for the tourism growth we are expecting in a post-pandemic world,” says Nikki.
“We believe a desire for a more timeless touring and travel experience was returning prior to COVID, and the pandemic has only just accelerated this.
“The growing popularity of a caravan and camping holiday is an emerging mega-trend, and we are positioning ourselves to capture this return to authentic travel experiences with quality assets in iconic destinations across New Zealand and Australia.”
Tasman Holiday Parks is expecting a surge of travel demand as borders reopen across New Zealand and Australia throughout 2022 and beyond.
“While we are anticipating a strengthening of our domestic travel markets, we believe this will translate to a robust trans-Tasman demand for all of our holiday parks as holiday makers make a comeback,” says Nikki.
Tasman Holiday Parks has focused its acquisition strategy on quality holiday parks with strong development upside in strategic locations.
Tasman Holiday Parks has recently undertaken a capital raise to restock its war chest with an additional $300 million available to grow its network and deliver a multi-million dollar redevelopment program of its iconic holiday assets across New Zealand and Australia.
“We believe in delivering wonderful guest experiences and will focus investment to ensure we have the highest quality destinations to delight our customers now and into the future,” says Nikki.
“We are pleased to see Tasman Holiday Parks expanding their operation in New Zealand,” says Fergus Brown, chief executive of Holiday Parks New Zealand.
“Tasman Holiday Parks are showing they are committed to developing the holiday park sector in New Zealand by investing in both the infrastructure of their properties and in their people.
“Holiday parks strong domestic customer base has meant that many parks have survived the COVID-19 crisis and are in a strong position to benefit as the Australian and international markets return to New Zealand.”
Tasman Holiday Parks currently has a deep pipeline of projects and acquisitions to double the size of the business over the coming 24 months. The group’s current development pipeline has the capacity to add an additional 500 sites to its existing portfolio.
Tasman Holiday Parks is the fastest growing owner, developer & operator of holiday parks across New Zealand and Australia.
With more than 3000 sites under management across 21 iconic locations, Tasman Holiday Parks welcomes more than 250,000 guests each year.
