Two leading Australian travel technology companies, RMS -The Hospitality Cloud and Camper Mate, have partnered to deliver Australia’s first integrated online booking channel and customised industry-specific website solution for the Australian Caravan and Camping Industry. 

Developed in response to today’s increasingly competitive digital environment, the Camper Mate and RMS integrated booking and management solution will slash up to 34 percent on big global company OTA booking fees. Also, by using Camper Mate as a lead generation and booking channel, fees for Parks will be up to 30-40 percent cheaper than those charged by global OTA’s.

As a result of RMS’ existing partnership with the Commonwealth Bank, the solution will also offer all CommBank merchants significant discounts on processing and transaction fees.

“The partnership was developed to help businesses within the Australian Caravan and Camping Industry be more profitable and compete more effectively online and in digital marketplaces,” said Nick Baker, CEO of Camper Mate. “Many businesses today are finding margins and profitability strangled by the ever-increasing commissions and fees being charged by, and paid to, overseas OTAs. 

“When you consider millions of dollars in commissions and fees are going offshore, it’s a negative outcome for Australian small business owners, the camping and caravanning industry, and the Australian economy. 

“This partnership is step one in a strategic vision to build an ecosystem of Australian technology travel companies that will collaborate to deliver significant value to the Australian industry and its hard-working stakeholders,” said Mr. Baker. “Our goal is twofold: to help deliver better value in booking costs, and to help significantly grow the audience for camping and caravanning holidays”.

The offering has received strong endorsement from the country’s national industry body, the Caravan Industry Association of Australia. According to Stuart Lamont, CEO of the Caravan Industry Association, it is great to see the Australian caravanning and camping industry receive genuine alternatives to offshore OTA’s.

“It is important that industry support such initiatives as not only are we seeing industry-specific technology solutions committed to growing the market, they also save caravan holiday parks money relative to these large offshore OTA’s that put nothing back into the caravanning and camping sector.”

Camper Mate is Australia’s only one-stop marketplace that allows adventure seekers, backpackers, road trippers, holiday makers and lovers of the great outdoors to plan, book and equip their travel and holiday experiences. RMS is the industry’s leading provider of innovative, quality and reliable park management software.

A key feature of the integrated Camper Mate and RMS solution is a fully-customisable website and webstore, powered by Marketplacers technology, that is built specifically for Parks. Integrated into RMS, Camper Mate and onto other OTAs, it enables park owners and operators to grow their own digital channels and compete directly online for a simple monthly fee.

The founder of RMS, Peter Buttigieg, said he is delighted with the stamp of approval from the Caravan Industry Association of Australia and to be a part of an ecosystem he knows will be of help and support to the industry. 

“The partnership with Camper Mate is something we are extremely proud of for a number of reasons,” said Mr Buttigieg . “All Australian-based companies partnering to give the Park Industry a world-class solution, while creating enormous cost benefits in a space that is becoming increasingly expensive. It’s Australian-developed, industry endorsed and will unquestionably reduce the ever-increasing cost of transactions made with OTAs.” 

In Australia, caravanning and camping nights have reached record numbers. According to Tourism Research Australia data released October 2018, national overnight camping/caravan/RV trips reaching 12.3 million for the year ending June 2018, marking the first time overnight trips have exceeded 12 million in a 12 month period. Total nights spent caravanning and camping around the country also increased by 6.5 percent to reach a record 52.8 million nights for year end June 2018.

About RMS

RMS – The Hospitality Cloud is the world’s fastest growing Property Management System with more than 6000 properties in 30 countries. With strong roots in the Australia’s Holiday Park industry, RMS is based in Melbourne and has offices in North America, United Kingdom, India, Singapore and the Middle East. RMS allows customers to choose the elements they need to run their property including property management, online bookings, channel management, business intelligence, yield management and more.

Camper Mate 

Camper Mate (in collaboration with Outdoria) is a one stop marketplace for adventure planning, booking and equipping. Customers can research, plan, book and buy camping experiences, caravan park holidays, RV rentals, unique accommodation and outdoor adventure equipment via the marketplace or directly with the store or park.