Moyne Shire Council caravan parks bring in $5 million in revenue

Caravan park revenue for the council has notched two all time records in the past two years, making up nearly half the "user fees" the council collected across all its services.

The shire's economic development manager Darby Lee said the council's parks always had revenue raising potential but the council had made some small tweaks to make the most of them.

"The first thing to note is the parks are all in great locations. The coastal parks like Southcombe, Gardens, Yambuk and Killarney are always popular, but Koroit is right in the botanic gardens and Mortlake is right on Tea Tree Lake," Mr Lee said.

"In summer they're pretty much always sold out, so the key was trying to get stronger off-season results."

With that in mind, two years ago as Victoria emerged from the worst of its lockdowns, the council began offering discounts to visit the caravan parks during the quieter months.

"We started offering a 'stay three, pay for two' deal, which encouraged people who normally wouldn't have come down to make the trip because it was cheaper," Mr Lee said.

"So, not only were people coming down, but they were staying for longer when they came."

Mr Lee said while the extra council revenue was welcome, the initiative was more about bringing tourist dollars into local businesses.

"From a council perspective, those extra nights were all about visitors having an extra meal at a local restaurant," he said.

The council has undoubtedly capitalised on the COVID trend of travelling locally, as well as the good value of caravan parks during a cost-of-living crisis. But Mr Lee said there were also other trends at play.

"We've noticed a significant increase in single, mature-age travellers," he said.

"Post-COVID there are thousands of people saying it's cheaper to sell their home and live on the road, forming a travelling community with sense of adventure and camaraderie.

"After we identified that we introduced a discount during quiet months for single travellers."

Mr Lee said Moyne's caravan parks also had a reputation for their spacious sites, which have become a big advantage as the size of caravans and motor homes has grown.

The cabins installed in the Koroit and Mortlake caravan parks have also ensured a steady stream of regular guests with local businesses getting priority access to the accommodation to house new staff when they move to the region.

While the growth in off-season visitors was deliberate, the rise in year-round popularity still surprised the council with 2022-23 revenue from the parks $1 million higher than expected. Mr Lee said the council continued to invest in the parks.

"One major investment is the new luxury cabins at Southcombe. We saw a gap in the market for more deluxe accommodation for families who want to stay in something a bit more upmarket, but not an Airbnb," he said.

"We've installed five new three-bedroom cabins. They'll be opening in November and have already sparked a lot of interest."

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