Camping boom lifts holiday park operator's portfolio to $500m
Private equity-backed holiday park owner and operator Tasman Holiday Parks has ridden the caravanning and camping wave that took off during the pandemic to build a $500 million portfolio of holiday parks in just a few years.
Much of this growth has come in the past 18 months as the group spent $265 million acquiring a total of 20 properties, to double its portfolio to 40, which, includes seven holiday parks in New Zealand.
Its latest acquisitions include the Denham Seaside Caravan Park in Western Australia’s Shark Bay, which Tasman Holiday Parks paid $13.8 million for in November last year (and which will settle this month), Racecourse Beach Holiday Park near Bateman’s Bay and Yallingup Beach Caravan Park near Busselton.
Tasman Holiday Parks has also acquired a number of Big4 Holiday Parks in Bright, Bendigo, Warrnambool, Ballina and Tathra. Its portfolio includes permanent budget accommodation, known as manufactured housing estates.
Tasman Holiday Parks CEO Nikki Milne said the group had delivered on its three-year strategic plan to turn a property start-up into a successful business.
“With 40 properties we’ve gone from low base, to now standing shoulder to shoulder with key corporates in the sector. We’re an emerging leader in the sector and will continue to grow,” Ms Milne, former chief operating officer at ASX-listed Ingenia, told The Australian Financial Review.
The super-charged growth of Tasman Holiday Parks has come as the holiday, caravanning and camping sector has surged back to life after being crippled first by the bushfires of late 2019 and early 2020, and then the pandemic.
Figures released in November by BDO and the Caravan Industry Association of Australia forecast the sector’s busiest summer holiday period since the pandemic as more Australians head to the coast and regional areas for affordable, family-friendly holidays.
Tasman Holiday Parks own figures show forward bookings up more than 30 per cent compared with the same time last year, after revenues grew 25 per cent last year on a like-for-like basis.
With families facing increased cost of living pressures, the ability of the holiday park sector to provide “value options” would support demand moving forward, Ms Milne said.
“$35 a night for a camp site makes our offer really enticing [for those on a budget],” she said.
The group’s latest spending spree has been funded by $300 million of equity raised in late 2021 by private equity firm Tasman Capital, led by former director at Deutsche Bank Capital Partners Rob Nichols.
Having hit the $500 million park, Tasman Holiday Parks has been armed with another $250 million of capital to fund further acquisitions and a $100 million development pipeline.
“We’re giving existing customers new reasons to come into the parks. This includes adding new cabins, campsites, pools, water slides and communal dining precincts,” Ms Milne said.
