August 27, 2026

Turning Regional Tourism Growth into More Park Bookings

Article by Warren Parrot – @whatsupwithwaz

Regional Australia remains the heartland of caravan and camping. According to Tourism
Research Australia, Australians took 17.3 million caravan and camping trips in 2025, spent
57.9 million nights away and generated $12.6 billion in expenditure. Importantly, 87% of
those nights were spent in regional Australia.

Those are encouraging numbers—but they do not mean every Holiday Park is automatically
booming. Demand is not distributed evenly, and parks outside the best-known destinations
still need to give travellers a compelling reason to turn off the highway, visit the region and
stay.

The opportunity is there. The challenge is making sure travellers know about it.

Turn Your Location into the Experience

Being off the beaten track does not have to be a disadvantage. For many travellers,
particularly Grey Nomads, families and couples looking to escape crowded destinations, it
can be part of the appeal.

Rather than promoting only your powered sites, cabins and amenities, sell the experience
surrounding your park. That could include quiet country roads, local history, farm gates,
wineries, fishing spots, walking trails, birdwatching, night skies, tours, attractions or simply
the chance to slow down.

The key is to answer the traveller’s question: “Why should we come here?”

Create simple itineraries such as “48 Hours in Our Region”, “Five Things to Do Within 30
Minutes”, “Top 5Must Do Attractions” or “The Best Local Stops You Won’t Find on the Main
Highway”. These can become website articles, social posts, guest emails and printed
guides.

Build Local Partnerships

A regional park rarely succeeds in isolation. Speak with nearby cafés, pubs, wineries, tour
operators, museums, golf clubs, farm gates and visitor attractions about working together.

A park might package two nights’ accommodation with a winery tasting, meal voucher,
museum entry or guided experience. Even without a formal package, cross-promotion can
be powerful. Recommend local businesses to your guests and ask those businesses to
display your brochures, mention your park online or include it in their own visitor
recommendations.

When the whole region gives travellers more reasons to visit, everyone benefits.

Make Events Work Harder

Country shows, markets, festivals, sporting events, rodeos, race meetings and seasonal
celebrations can all create demand—but only if potential guests hear about them early
enough.

Build an annual events calendar and promote accommodation well ahead of time. Contact
organisers, offer a booking link or event-specific deal, and ask to be included on their
accommodation page.

Consider creating a small park-based event of your own, such as live music, a local produce
evening, kids’ activities or a community barbecue, particularly during quieter periods.

Encourage Guests to Stay One More Night

With travellers increasingly taking shorter trips and booking later, every additional night
matters. Give guests a practical reason to extend their stay: a third-night offer, midweek
package, late checkout, themed itinerary or rotating activity program.

Staff can help too. A simple conversation at check-in—“Are you staying long enough to see
the lookout, market and historic village?”—can turn a one-night stop into a longer visit.

Get you and your team talking up the area and what it has to offer at every opportunity.

Use the Networks Around You

Work closely with your local council, Visitor Information Centre, Regional Tourism
Organisation and state tourism body. Keep them supplied with current photos, new
experiences, packages and event information. They cannot promote what they do not know
exists.

In fact, most of these promotional tools and operations are understaffed but also under-
utilized, take regular positive steps in communication with them to maximize your presence
in their promotional efforts – they will be grateful, and you will get more promotion and
coverage.

The same applies to industry groups. Parks belonging to a broader network such as Kui
Parks can lean on that collective reach to amplify local news, special offers, events and new
experiences through their larger, broader and highly targeted websites, databases, social
channels and marketing campaigns.

For independent and council run parks in particular, this is worth considering. Being part of a
trusted group is not only about having a logo at the front gate; it can provide added visibility,
credibility, shared knowledge and access to an audience a single regional park may struggle
to reach alone.

Social media can help even the smallest regional park reach the right travellers without
requiring a huge marketing budget.

Use your booking data and guest history to identify where your customers most commonly
come from, then direct a modest Meta advertising spend towards people in those locations
who are interested in caravanning, camping, regional travel and family holidays.

Promote upcoming events, seasonal packages, local attractions and suggested itineraries
with strong images and a clear reason to book. Rather than trying to reach everyone across
Australia, focus your budget on the audiences most likely to visit, test several messages and
monitor which campaigns generate enquiries, website visits and bookings. A targeted
approach will generally deliver greater reach, relevance and value from every marketing
dollar.

Regional tourism is still winning, but success will not arrive evenly or automatically. The
parks best placed to benefit will be those that actively sell their region, collaborate locally,
create reasons to stay longer and use every available network to tell their story.

The travellers are out there. Make sure they have a reason to turn your way.