Kennedy Park Top 10 Resort

An Israeli with a background in hotel management, David has encouraged all his staff to set goals and to think outside the traditional holiday park square.

One of the more innovative things Kennedy Park has done is grow a lucrative relationship with a mining company in New Caledonia which has been sending its employees’ children to the park for a holiday each year.

“When I started here six years ago I saw a business opportunity to extend the relationship.”

 He has worked closely on the project, travelling to New Caledonia to meet with the mine management. Kennedy Park staff have also taken it on themselves to ensure their New Caledonian guests have a great experience, including taking French lessons in order to improve communication, and organising an annual ‘staff versus the group’ soccer tournament and a final night performance.

From just one group in 2005, nine groups of adults and children are expected this summer season.

One significant change David has implemented since his arrival at Kennedy Park is to apply a hotel business model to the holiday park.

“Our way of doing things and operating is quite different to other holiday parks in New Zealand and the results are very positive.” David believes the model could be tweaked and applied even to small holiday parks.

Today Kennedy Park is one of New Zealand’s largest holiday parks and is continually investing in improvements.

 “We have a bed to suit every budget, from upmarket villas to standard cabins to tent sites. Basically the biggest benefit and value for money is that guests can have everything in the one place – it’s a one stop shop.”

Owned by Napier City Council, David says Kennedy Park highlights how beneficial a close relationship between tourism and councils can be.

Kennedy Park Top 10 Resort won the Holiday Park Award in the 2010 Tourism Industry Awards. It was also the first-equal holiday park to achieve the Qualmark Enviro gold rating.