A “cultural shift” in Australians’ travel habits looks to set a boom in caravan park occupancy this Easter and the following months.
Despite speculations that opening international borders and the increase in fuel prices would slow the Covid-inspired camping surge, the number of reservations this Easter and the following days suggests that this is not the case, according to a report.
Matt Lang, the chief operating officer at Discovery Parks, which operates 85 holiday parks across Australia, said that outlooks were positive, despite some initial concerns over the Omicron wave.
“About six weeks ago there was a bit of hesitancy about people making plans—and there’s still some of that in the market—but that’s starting to wane now,” he said. “Generally, in the industry, there’s quite a bit of optimism and now that there are high vaccination rates and the borders are open, we are also starting to see people book from interstate.”
The surge in the sale of caravans, four-wheel-drive vehicles, and camping equipment over the last two years suggests that there are many people keen to hit the highways and byways.
“There’s still quite a bit of pent-up demand from being basically locked down for two years, and people are looking to travel,” said Lang.
“People are still waiting for caravans to be delivered to them, so I think there has been a cultural shift, and people have connected again and are doing things that they might have done when they were younger.”
He said that there was confidence that the outlook could remain optimistic for the remainder of the year.
“When we look at our forward outlook – not just Easter and the school holidays but for four or five months – we are looking quite strong compared to the prior year,” Lang said. “A lot of people have invested in four-wheel drives and caravans, and they are looking to be on the road.”
This article originally appeared on The Grey Nomads.