PORT STEPHENS is experiencing a bumper holiday season.

One winner from this increased visitation has been Port Stephens Council managed Holiday Parks.

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A Port Stephens Council representative told News Of The Area, “Current occupancy percentages for the main Summer School Holiday period are approximately 80 percent”

For the region the peak holiday occupancy is traditionally between Christmas Eve and approximately 10 January.

This year Council managed parks have enjoyed occupancy rates of approximately 95 percent throughout this period.

The current average length of stay is around nine nights.

“Weekends in the lead up to the summer holiday period were sitting above 90 percent occupancy, with a dip in the week before the Christmas weekend,” said the Council spokesperson.

“There was no noticeable dip for summer holiday bookings in the past two years with bookings actually increasing over the summer holiday period.

“The current summer holiday period continues this trend with an increase in summer holiday bookings.”

Growth for Koala Sanctuary

The Port Stephens Koala Sanctuary presents a unique tourism offering for visitors to the region, and Council is working towards increasing visitation and bookings on an ongoing basis.

Interest in the Sanctuary is growing, with accommodation nights sold growing from 2,487 nights in the 2021 calendar year to 4,481 nights sold for the calendar year of 2022.

“This success is also driven by the variety of accommodation options available here at the Sanctuary that range from 4 star Superior and Deluxe Glamping tents through to more traditional hotel rooms (recently refurbished to a 4 star standard) that include a mixture of Studio rooms and One Bedroom Deluxe suites – all offering flexible and different price points.”

The Sanctuary has been working closely for the past twelve months with Tourism Australia (TA) and Destination NSW (DNSW) to promote to the inbound tourism market segment, currently recovering from the effects of the global pandemic, by attending trade shows and industry meetings to promote awareness and that the Sanctuary is included within agent travel itineraries in 2023 and beyond.

Customer Feedback

Feedback is an important part of measuring success in the tourism sector.

To gauge customer sentiment, Port Stephens Beachside Holiday Parks uses an international customer service standard known as the Net Promoter Score (NPS).

The Net Promoter Score measures the loyalty that exists between Holiday Parks and customers.

Any positive score means Parks have more advocates (promoters) willing to recommend them than critics (detractors).

– 100 means that all of the park’s customers are detractors.

+100 means all customers are promoters.

Based on the global Net Promoter Score standards, any score above ‘0’ would be good.

An NPS above 50 is great, with an NPS above 70 considered world class.

Over the past three years, results provided to Council from Holiday Parks NPS indicate that customers are enjoying a quality experience when staying at a Beachside Holiday Park.

On average Holiday Parks NPS have increased to 72.9 in calendar year 2022.

“This positive increase is influenced by continual capital work improvements across all Beachside Holiday Parks including new amenities buildings, camp kitchens, laundry facilities as well as a comprehensive cabin refurbishment program that has brought many cabins up to a deluxe standard,” the spokesperson said.

By Marian SAMPSON