Kennedy Park Wins National Tourism Award

A popular Napier holiday park resort that’s been around for nearly 75 years has taken top honors at this year’s National Tourism Industry Awards announced in Auckland last night.

Napier's Kennedy Park TOP 10 Resort, which first opened in 1937, edged out two other national finalists to win the top prize in the ‘Accommodation – Holiday Parks’ category.

When first opened Kennedy Park offered campsites, huts and caravan sites, today it has an extensive range of accommodation from motel units and eco-friendly modern cabins with ensuites to traditional cabins and tent sites.

The park has a well-equipped playground including an extremely popular jumping pillow as well as its own swimming pool, sky theatre, conference facilities, restaurant and bar. Kennedy Park’s General Manager David Aflallo is delighted with the win, which comes after winning the 2009 Westpac Chamber of Commerce Business Awards for Excellence in Sustainable Business and recent enhancements to their Qualmark ratings.

“We’ve just had our Enviro Gold rating renewed, making us one of the first holiday parks in the country to achieve this and our strong five star rating has also been renewed. This award confirms we are on the right track with what we’re doing at the park,” says David.

The theme for this year’s awards was ‘Innovation and Creativity’ and David says innovation is at the heart of Kennedy Park’s operations with the team always looking to offer its customers a complete holiday experience.

He says with their wide range of holiday accommodation they cater for everyone from the mature couple travelling in their motor home to a family wanting space and the luxuries of home.

“Once visitors arrive they can take a deep breath and relax because there’s so much on offer within the park. There’s no need to rush out to find ways to keep a family entertained – it’s all right here if they want it. Riding carts, a sky theatre and even holiday programmes are just some examples of this. There’s even a bar and restaurant on site so they don’t even have to go out to eat if they don’t feel like it.”

David says the park targets both domestic and international tourists looking for an affordable and enjoyable holiday experience. The park is also well set up for large groups and hosts many sports teams and school groups, it even offers conference facilities.

He says one project the team is extremely proud of is its growing relationship with a New Caledonian mining company which pays for a group of its employees’ children to holiday at Kennedy Park every year.

“We have built on this existing relationship and each year the group arriving gets bigger and bigger. It has been a fantastic experience for everyone involved. We even arrange a park staff versus visitors soccer game and have staff learning French so they can more easily converse with the visitors!”

David says the team is now looking for similar opportunities in other parts of the world.

As part of the rigorous judging process there were site visits, mystery shopping experiences, phone and online assessments, and the park’s referees were contacted.

David says the whole awards’ process has been a very positive experience for the Park and its team.

“We live and breathe innovation on a daily basis in our business and it’s been so exciting to showcase that to the judging panel.