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Holiday Parks Performance Index 2014 - 2018

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- OTA Balance Tips as Holiday Parks Fight Back and Drive Direct Bookings -  

New research reveals Australian holiday parks are regaining control of their online sales distribution channels and clawing back market share from the powerful foreign-owned online travel agents, Booking.com and Expedia, which dominate the travel internet.

RMS Cloud Holiday Park Performance Index

This is the headline finding of the first RMS Cloud Holiday Park Performance Index – an analysis of more than 2 million online bookings made through the RMS Cloud distribution and property management platform between 2014 and 2018.  

Key Findings

  • OTAs losing market share but still leading online holiday park bookings at 55% share. 
  • Direct bookings to overtake OTA bookings by 2024 if present trajectory continues.
  • Online, including direct/OTA, is the fastest-growing sales channel for holiday parks.
  • Flat rates/revenue mean direct bookings best way to increase revenue and cut costs.  
  • Direct strategy allows operators to ‘own’ customers and save on OTA commission.
  • OTA sector a straight duopoly – there’s no competition for Booking.com or Expedia.
  • Booking.com clear #1, outselling Expedia 3:1 in holiday park market and pulling away.
  • Very few sales from the GDS, wholesalers, traditional agents, or camping websites.
  • Airbnb, TripAdvisor are playing no meaningful role in the sector at this point.
  • Holiday park stays getting shorter while booking lead times have increased.
  • Online holiday park bookings through RMS grew 25% a year between 2014 and 2018.

Shifting Landscape

Managing Director of RMS Cloud, Peter Buttigieg, says holiday park operators are building better websites and marketing more aggressively to boost their share of online bookings and save on the 15% commissions charged by the dominant OTAs, Booking.com and Expedia.

“The landscape has shifted, and the data shows that for the first time ever the Online Travel Agents are losing market share to holiday park operators,” says Buttigieg. 

“Previously it’s all been one-way traffic in the other direction, but now smart operators have lifted their online game and are fighting back, often with great success, demonstrating that given the choice and a great deal many consumers prefer to book directly with suppliers.”

 

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