Water sports park leaves the competition in its wake
One of New Zealand’s busiest wakeboarding and water- skiing aquatic leisure parks has been placed on the market for sale.
Taupo Wake Park in the Central North Island operates on a man- made lake just north of Taupo township, and gives users a simulated riding experience to being towed behind a motorboat.
Easily visible from State Highway 1, Taupo Wake Park is located within one of Taupo’s tourist activity hubs – additionally sustaining the familyorientated Huka Prawn Park, and the upmarket Wairakei Golf Course.
The wake park has been operating for six- years - cumulatively building repeat clientele over the period. User charges for the facility range from $ 40 for a 10- minutre burst, or $ 40 for a beginner’s tuition session, up to $ 75 for a half- day pass allowing multiple runs.
Trading seven days- a- week from 10am, Taupo Wake Park hosts a number of on- lake events throughout the year – ranging from social gatherings and well patronised school education programmes, through to the Central North Island regional heats for the national wakeboarding championships. Private parties and corporate bookings are also catered for.
Now the Taupo Wake Park business at 201 Karetoto Road in Wairakei is being marketed for sale by negotiation through Bayleys Real Estate’s business sales division.
Salespeople Carolyn Hanson and
Markus Blum said Taupo Wake Park runs as a one- person operation – achieved through a fully- automated booking system which allowed bookings and health and safety compliance to be undertaken on- line in advance of arrival at the venue.
Hanson said support amenities and buildings within the park in
cluded an office, caf, bathrooms, and rental equipment storage sheds. The park also has 25 car park spaces, with additional turning and space for large buses and school mini- buses.
In addition to generating revenue from sessions, the business also hires equipment to riders of all abilities for $ 15.
“As with much of Taupo’s tourism sector, Taupo Wake Park bounced back relatively quickly from the initial restrictions of operating under Covid19 level three and four lockdowns,” said Hanson.
“Taupo Wake Park appeals to all levels of users – from beginners and school groups looking for a safe and non- threatening on- water environment enabling them to master the rudimentals of the sport, right through to advanced riders looking to hone their competitive repertoires on the jump ramps.”
Blum said with Taupo Wake Park operating at close to capacity numbers on many days throughout the high and shoulder seasons – including school days - expansion of amenities was the biggest opportunity for taking the business forward to higher revenue levels.
“The lease agreement for the park encompasses nearly three hectares of land, of which the current lake and support services only utilise less than 25 percent. That leaves the opportunity of either expanding the existing lake’s size, or constructing another separate lake which would effectively double the park’s capacity,” he said.
“A bigger second lake could also support a wider range of aquatic activities – such as paddle boarding, kayaking, or an inflatable adventure activities structure.”
Blum said Taupo Wake Park’s owner would look at undertaking a ‘ hand- over’ transition for any potential purchase who was new to the recreational sporting sector. The business is on a lease at its Karetoto Road premises, currently running through to 2032, and paying annual rental of $ 12,394 plus GST. The property i s zoned Commercial Tourist under the Taupo District Council plan.