Abstract:
There are an estimated 1,825 caravan and tourist parks spread throughout Australia. Collectively
they are the second largest provider of short term accommodation (19.7%) after motels (37.6%)
(Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2004). These caravan and tourist parks vary in scale, complexity
and level of service provision; much like other sectors of the accommodation industry.
However, while there has been ongoing interest, expansion and upgrading of caravan and
tourist parks throughout Australia, particularly along the Pacific Coast, there has been relatively
little attention paid to caravanning (and caravan parks) as social phenomenon and even less
in terms of their business dimensions. Partly this is a consequence of the dispersed nature of
the industry but also a reflection of its perceived status within the overall accommodation
sector.
This study examines two fundamental areas of management performance, visitor service
quality and operational management, with a view to assisting caravan and tourist parks
operators to develop national industry driven benchmarks for both these key areas. Preliminary
benchmarks are established and recommendations for their further development are proposed.
