After winning the Tourism category in the Westpac Tauranga Business awards three years ago and again last Friday, the Qualmark five-star rated Waihi Beach Holiday Park went one better this time by being named the supreme winner, ahead of kiwifruit processor, Te Puna-based Kiwifruitz.
The Smiths had little time to celebrate with their eight full-time and four part-time staff. This week they attended the three-day Top 10 Holiday Park conference in Invercargill and then drove to Te Anau for the sector's Business Excellence group meeting, which discusses topical issues and is run out of Sydney.
At the last meeting, the elite holiday park owners discussed risk management, and that came in handy for the Smiths when the Rena struck the Astrolabe Reef.
"We dropped the [risk management] framework into the business," said Mr Smith, a Tourism Bay of Plenty trustee.
"We encouraged the staff to answer emails and phone calls in a proactive way. We were six weeks out till summer and people wanted to know whether the oil was off the beach; they didn't want to take the risk.
"We told them 'everything is being managed incredibly successfully' and talked down the dramatic side. Waihi Beach was not affected and the holiday park can offer alternative choices.
"Once we put in the swimming pool, guests stay there instead of going to the beach. During the summer the pool pumps all day," Mr Smith said.
He said Waihi Beach Holiday Park has had "a few cancellations but nothing huge. We've told them not to make a decision and it hasn't been too hard convincing them it's worth taking the risk.
"If they cancelled, they wouldn't get back in because the park is pretty solidly booked through the whole of January, up to the end of the school holidays," said Mr Smith.
He said all 110 camping and motorhome sites were booked in January and only a few of the 35 cabins and motel units were available during the middle of the month.
Mr Smith said all coastal Bay of Plenty tourism businesses had to remain positive and work together to provide the public with a clear and true picture of what is happening while the Rena salvage process takes place.
After operating for nearly 15 years, the Smiths now attract 50,000 guest nights a year at Waihi Beach Holiday Park - and another 20,000 guest nights at their other property, Beachaven, further down the road.
"We saw an opportunity for two separate markets," Mr Smith said. "Some people will pay more to have the extras and home comforts [at Waihi Beach Holiday Park] and others still want the Kiwi camping feel with clean facilities."
Beachaven has 20 cabins and motel units, 100 camping sites and a playground but it doesn't have the swimming pool complex with gym, sauna and spa, and an under-fives family room.
Together, both holiday parks pump $7 million into the Waihi Beach economy each year. The Smiths retain 17 per cent of that spend for their accommodation costs.
Mr Smith said overseas visitors made up as much as 30 per cent of the guest nights but the number had fallen to 15 per cent during the economic recession, and the domestic market had improved.
"The holiday parks have a huge impact on the local economy," he said. "Last summer we asked guests to wear wrist bands down to the beach and it was a good example for the retailers and cafes to see how much business was coming from people staying at the holiday parks."
Waihi Beach Holiday Park is now operating with local businesses such as Flat White Cafe on joint marketing programmes, and Mr Smith said "it becomes a win, win situation for all of us".
Mr Smith, also the chief fire officer in Waihi Beach, left a school principal's job in Auckland to buy the Waihi Beach Holiday Park lease in 1996. They set about transforming the rundown camping ground, on a 2.5-hectare pohutukawa-clad site near the beach, into a modern resort now regarded as one of the best Top 10 holiday parks in the country.
They have invested more than $5 million on facilities including the units, and now turn over about $1.5 million with 50 per cent of the visitors being repeat guests.
"We've looked beyond the traditional camping ground and taken calculated risks.
"Our business is all about continuous improvement, and to give our guests a true holiday experience," Mr Smith said.
Originally a goldminers' camp on the Department of Conservation-owned land, the holiday park is one of the oldest in the country, dating back to the late 1890s.
Mr Smith spared little detail in its transformation.
He tracked down old photos and stories and put them on storyboards placed around the grounds to give guests a better understanding of the area's history and how important camping is in the Kiwi culture.
He likens a holiday park to a small community. "Over the years I've had to deal with deaths, and seen people who've proposed, got married and showed up again five to seven years later with their kids. I've walked in and found young couples having a kiss in the laundry.
"I see the generations coming and going. We had one couple who had the same camp site for 80 years.
"He passed away more than two years ago, and before that he told me this was as much home to their kids and grandchildren as their own place," Mr Smith said.
Waihi Beach Holiday Park walked away with three category wins and the supreme business of the year award. Staff include (from left) owners Ian and Vicki Smith, operations manager Angie Robinson, head groundsman Alan Culley, reception team leader Catherine Brown, head housekeeper Di Blair, TrustPower chief executive Vince Hawksworth, and customer service sponsor and judge Fionna Smith. Photo: Katie Cox
