2025 – Caravan & Holiday Park Investment Review (Australia, FY25 / YTD)

Author： SIRE Capital 

Executive snapshot

• The caravan / holiday park ecosystem is now a $27b+ national industry and a core piece of regional tourism infrastructure. Australian Parliament House
• Trading conditions in FY25 remain solid overall, with park accommodation revenue up ~7% and stable occupancy across cabins and powered sites. assets.pc.gov.au
• The sector is clearly institutionalising: large platforms backed by super funds and specialist REITs are scaling portfolios, while private owners remain active, especially in sub-$10m assets. 

Demand & operating performance
From the latest State of Industry data:

• Around 15.2 million trips, 57.1 million nights and $10.6 billion in caravan & camping visitor expenditure, with commercial parks capturing the bulk of spend. assets.pc.gov.au
• Average national occupancies:
  • Cabins: ~60%
  • Powered sites: ~49%
  • Unpowered sites: ~20%
  • Total park accommodation revenue roughly $3.1 billion, up about 7% year-on-year. assets.pc.gov.au

Demand mix:

• Families and couples remain the largest occupier groups; “grey nomads” and remote workers are still important but no longer the only growth engine. 
• Groups like Reflections Holidays illustrate the health of well-positioned portfolios:
  • FY25 economic benefit to regional NSW of $135m, up 7.1% on FY24.
  • 2.1m guests across 40 holiday parks.
  • $22m of capex invested in new roofed accommodation and park upgrades. Reflections Holidays

Capital flows & institutionalisation

• G’day Group (Discovery Parks + G’day Parks), majority-owned (c.95%) by Australian Retirement Trust, is now:
  • Operating roughly 90 owned parks + 240+ licensed parks across Australia. 
  • Holding a property portfolio valued around $2 billion, with a public ambition to reach $2.5b by 2026. 
  • Continuing an acquisition program in 2024–25 (Cradle Mountain, Margaret River, Bargara, Renmark, etc.), often followed by multi-million-dollar capex programs to add cabins and reposition parks. 
• UK data points (Christie & Co, 2025) show a similar pattern: holiday/caravan parks saw a subdued 2024 but a “tentative but encouraging” recovery in 2025 with high levels of buyer and seller enquiry, particularly for larger, static-led parks with reliable cash flow. 
• Individual Australian deals still show cap rates around 6–7% for established freehold parks, with higher yields for more operational or secondary locations. 

Policy & structural backdrop

• The caravan sector is explicitly recognised in the Future Made in Australia policy debate as a strategic industry: >$27b in measured annual economic contribution, >50,000 jobs, and a rare remaining sovereign vehicle-manufacturing base. Australian Parliament House
• Federal and state programs (caravan-park infrastructure grants, regional tourism funds) continue to support investment in accessibility, sustainability and public-realm improvements in and around parks. 
• Operators are leaning into:
  • Higher-end product (glamping, eco-cabins, boutique “tiny homes”). 
  • Multi-generational facilities and “one-stop” parks with resort-style amenities. 

Risks & 2026 outlook

• Cost-of-living pressures and the swing back to overseas travel are still headwinds in some regions (notably parts of inland Victoria and outback Queensland, where visits and site revenue have softened). 
• Input costs (labour, insurance, utilities, capex) and higher funding costs compress margins for highly leveraged owners.
• Nonetheless, analysts and specialist brokers expect:
  • Ongoing demand for coastal and lifestyle parks with strong cabin exposure and capex upside. 
  • Continued roll-up activity as institutional platforms chase scale.
  • Scope for private buyers to play in the $2–10m regional asset bracket, especially where there is planning upside or the ability to add cabins and reposition.

2025 investor read-through

• The sector is now clearly in the “institutionalising but still fragmented” phase.
• Best risk-adjusted opportunities are typically:
  • Freehold or long-leasehold coastal/lifestyle parks.
  • Strong existing cabin mix + scope to add more.
  • Markets with solid drive-tourism fundamentals (capital-city hinterlands, high-amenity regional centres), rather than remote locations reliant on one segment (e.g. grey nomads).