Tourism spots have the lot

TWO WHITIANGA tourism businesses will be auctioned on May 17, including a seaside campground that’s for sale for the first time since 1984. Harbourside Holiday Park, at 135 Albert St, offers a range of accommodation options, from 61 powered tent and caravan sites to 11 cabins and tourist flats.

The rectangular 1.4373-hectare site overlooks Whitianga Harbour and has been a campground for almost 50 years. It is being marketed as turnkey operation with 482 square metres of buildings, including a threebedroom owner/manager’s house with the campground office.

Josh Smith, of Bayleys Hamilton, says the layout and infrastructure of Harbourside Holiday Park means it could be staffed for most of the year by a husband and wife, either as owner-operators or under a leased management contract.

‘‘With ample open, flat-grassed space, Harbourside Holiday Park could easily be expanded, either adding more budget cabins or selfcontained apartments with greater levels of guest comforts.

‘‘Moving up the add-value ladder, the flat topography of the park would perfectly suit the trend of accommodating refurbished 40 – 60 foot steel shipping containers transformed into chic baches, which can be easily transported on and off most sites in a similar way to caravans . . . except that they are transported on the back of trucks.’’

Smith says because the camp is across the road from Whitianga Harbour, the land was generally free-draining, so rain-affected grass areas dry quickly and allow higher occupancy levels for guests in tents.

Smith is also marketing Turtle Cove Backpackers with Belinda Sammons, of Bayleys Whitianga.

‘‘Turtle Cove is a stereotypical New Zealand backpacker accommodation venue,’’ he says. ‘‘It caters to the budget end of the free independent traveller market in a style which has been immensely popular since the 1970s, and shows no sign of changing.’’

The 430sqm of lodge buildings are on the edge of the central business district, at 12 and 14 Bryce St, and are licensed to sleep 62 people.

Turtle Cove’s configured for single-sex and mixed gender bunkstyle dormitories and single rooms, and stand-alone share twin and double rooms. The adjoining sites have a combined area of 1624sqm and include an owner/manager’s residence, two ensuite family bedrooms with 12 beds, and portable cabin bedrooms.

‘‘Turtle Cove, like many backpacker establishments of its ilk, is now attracting a generation of backpackers who first enjoyed the free-spirited style of accommodation some 30 or 40 years ago,’’ Smith says.

‘‘Now, still wanting to hold onto that free-spirited environment during their travels, those former guests are coming back as middleaged adults with their children, who will probably in turn go on to become the next generation of backpacker guests.’’

Sammons says the owneroperator business is busiest from December to March, when the occupancy level is about 82 per cent.

‘‘Turtle Cove Backpackers is in a fortunate location, being the closest accommodation venue of its type to the commercial heart of Whitianga with the pillar retail amenities such as supermarkets, bars, convenience food outlets, and liquor retailers, which backpackers frequently use during their stays.’’ ❚ For more information, contact Josh Smith on: 027 229 8865 (josh.smith@bayleys.co.nz) or Belinda Sammons on: 027 272 7728 (belinda.sammons@bayleys.co.nz).