REFLECTIONS Holiday Parks has been named the Employer of the Year at the inaugural Hospitality and Tourism Awards in Newcastle.

The social enterprise organisation, headquartered in Newcastle, is the State’s largest holiday park group, operating 36 holiday parks and welcoming two million visitors across regional NSW each year.

All profit is reinvested in public land, such as nature reserves.

More than 200 people from the tourism and hospitality sector attended the gala event, presented by the Newcastle Tourism Industry Group at Earp Distillery on May 22.

The Employer of the Year award category cited the past three difficult years in tourism and hospitality, highlighting the “flexible and resilient, forward-thinking and at times slightly stoic” employers who had risen to the challenge while still ensuring a fantastic guest experience.

Reflections Chief Executive Officer Nick Baker said the award meant an enormous amount to the entire Reflections team in its Newcastle “base camp”, as well as its park managers and operations staff throughout NSW.

“Amid so much uncertainty in our industry in recent years, Reflections continued to adapt and introduce a range of measures to enhance the work environment and careers of our staff,” Mr Baker said.

“Measures included increasing diversity and inclusivity with the development of our first Reconciliation Action Plan, beginning our journey towards B-Corp certification and providing additional leave for employees to foster their wellbeing and resilience.”

Reflections is a Crown Land Manager and Australia’s only social enterprise holiday park group, reinvesting all profits into Crown land sites in NSW for social and environmental good.

It cares for 23,000 acres of public land on behalf of the people of NSW.

43 community reserves form 96 percent of its footprint, and the remainder is where its 36 holiday parks are located.

In its winning submission, Reflections noted it had increased the size of its reservation team in Newcastle to support the local economy and increased the availability of reservations staff for bookings within NSW.

Other measures it introduced included:
• Contributing significantly to local events, including as a major sponsor of Surfest,
• Offering hybrid working arrangements for staff,
• Developing cultural safety training and offering training to boost mental health/resilience.