Like many other market segments – from cruise ships to recreational facilities and traditional campgrounds – Australia's holiday parks are eager to give guests thrilling waterpark experiences during their visits.

If the waterpark industry is looking for a perfect partner with which to expand, it can't do much better than the caravan and camping industry in Australia.

The industry in that country is large and dynamic and the number of people spending their vacations and holidays at caravan and camping parks has been steadily growing over the last few years.

Even more importantly for the waterpark industry, the primary user group of these camps is families – with the adults aged 30-54 years. Families make up 50 per cent of the caravan and camping market share.

Not only that, but this market segment has the money with which to indulge in this pastime. Specifically, 52 per cent of households earning more than A$80,000 (US$58,000) have gone caravanning or camping in the past two years.

A KPMG report into caravanning and camping demographics highlights significant opportunities for the industry in the family market as one of the groups most likely to grow in the future.

These types of statistics underscore the opportunities but also the increased competition in the sector – competition that means every caravan park is looking for new ways to enhance its attractiveness to the consumer. And one of the primary ways that the parks are doing so is with the addition of waterpark amenities.

A popular website for Australian caravaners describes how "facilities just keep getting better," with the major reason being "the introduction of… splash-tastic water-play areas."

Among the top facilities earning accolades from their visitors is Big4 Tweed Billabong Holiday Park in New South Wales, which the website's users' named one of Australia's top 10 best family holiday parks.
 
Perfect amenities for upscale parks

Tweed Billabong is a part of the Big4 Caravan Park franchise which comprises 180 holiday parks across Australia. The group provides a range of high-quality accommodation options from powered ensuite sites for caravan and motorhomes to luxury cabins.

With consistently high expectations across all its parks the company is known for setting a high standard for holiday park experiences and is recognised as the industry leader.

Big4 didn't achieve such success without constantly monitoring the industry to stay abreast of guests' interests. As a result, the business's owners noticed a clear trend in the increase of waterslides and other water-play features on cruise ships, at recreational facilities and at traditional campgrounds. It seemed natural to explore how to take advantage of these amenities within the caravan park sector.

After investigating its options several Big4 sites chose to partner with two major industry players in the waterpark industry to add water features to their parks. Working with Swimplex Aquatics of Australia and Turkey-based Polin Waterparks, the sites added waterslides and similar attractions at its Capricorn Palms Holiday Village in Yeppoon and at Cania Gorge Caravan and Tourist Park in Cania Gorge – both in Queensland, Australia.

More recently, MacDonnell Range Big4 began working with Polin and Swimplex Aquatics to add a waterslide to its MacDonnell Range Holiday Park facility in Alice Springs.

Swimplex is handling project-management and installation responsibilities and Polin is supplying the waterslide and tower.
 
Reconnecting with nature

Tweed Billabong continues to garner significant interest due to the recent addition of its water playground for kids which opened in June.

The overall waterpark is themed as 'Australia's Green Cauldron Water Playground' and is based on the local terrain, an ancient, extinct shield volcano and now encompasses Wollumbin-Mount Warning, the surrounding World Heritage-listed national parks, natural beaches and headlands of unusual volcanic rock formations.

Park owner Andrew Tribe says this latest addition adds even more value for guests because it provides children with both an active and educational experience.

"Kids are stuck on their personal devices or computers too much at home and school," he explained. "Their holidays need to be an active and fun time spent reconnecting with their parents."