Holiday parks favoured as tough time hit

Holiday parks favoured as tough time hit

Tough economic times mean more people are turning to holiday parks for their breaks.

Levin Top 10 Holiday Park owners Debbie and Repi Wright have noticed the trend. While they’ve expanded holiday options to suit all sorts of travellers, they have noted an increase in demand for tent sites.

“One day last summer I realised that the place where we have people pitch tents was getting crowded, so we opened another field for them,” Debbi says.

The park had 10,000 guest nights 12 years ago. That’s tripled to 30,000 guest nights a year. Guest nights are calculated per person per night.

While the couple have doubled the park’s facilities in size, there is still room to grow. The land totals 5 acres (2 hectares) and only two-thirds is used.

There are sites for caravans, motorhomes and tents, and the park has several different sized cabins with their own bathroom. A reception building near the front of the park is planned, with facilities for new arrivals, places to sit and display information about local events and places to visit.

The current reception area is at the front room to the Wrights’ house.

They have owned the park since 2012. It’s been on Parker Avenue, beside Playford Park, since 1948 on land donated to the council by Harry Playford. The council still owns the land.

Apart from accommodation, there are shared facilities, including showers, laundry, kitchen, games room, TV room, a library, and lunchroom. The kids can play on an air cushion and in a large playground.

“When we moved here we had two small children, with the third one born here, so we knew a safe space for kids to play was important,” Debbie says.

Both Debbie, who hails from Levin, and Repi, who is from Whakatāne, trained and worked as teachers in New Zealand as well as overseas. Debbie grew up in Ōhau and attended Ōhau School and Horowhenua College.

When they returned from their overseas stint they landed in Auckland, where Repi worked long days in a corporate job.

Being self-employed appealed, they enjoyed hosting people in their home and liked to travel,.

“When we spotted the ‘for sale’ ad for the Levin Holiday Park, we thought it was quirky enough to appeal to us,” Debbie says. “The previous owners had been here 14 years and wanted to retire.

“We knew it would take a bit of time and work and love to help grow it, so we decided to see what we could do in 10 years.”

She says she enjoys the variety of work, from administration and accounts to gardening and lawn mowing.

“We spend a lot of time on our feet and staying fit out in the sun and fresh air.”

Besides Repi and Debbie, the park employs one full-time receptionist and five part-time cleaners.

Levin Top 10 Holiday Park won the small business award in the 2024 Electra Business and Innovation Awards.