The peak industry body representing more than 80 per cent of Victoria’s tourist and residential park operators has changed its business name from VicParks to Caravan & Residential Parks Victoria.
“Our new name better reflects the growing residential parks sector which is offering affordable home ownership opportunities through land lease communities,” association CEO, Scott Parker said.
“It also clears up confusion with the statutory authority Parks Victoria and Caravan Industry Victoria which represents caravan manufacturers, retailers and service providers.”
Established in 1964 as the Victorian Caravan Parks Association Incorporated by a group of concerned caravan park owners fighting unfair regulatory change, government advocacy remains a key pillar of the organisation more than 60 years on.
“We need to ensure both the government and opposition recognise the importance of this industry to regional economies where more than 50 per cent of overnight stays are in caravan parks,” Scott said.
“The importance of tourist and residential parks was confirmed by a BDO Australia report which found that in the financial year 2021, the industry contributed $2.4 billion to Victoria’s Gross State Product and supported more than 17,000 jobs.”
Caravan & Residential Parks Victoria recently strengthened its advocacy power through the appointment of two new senior staff. Rod Hearn is the association’s general manager, residential and Gary Anderton is general manager, tourism.
“Rod has joined us with extensive senior experience in the land lease community and broader residential and holiday park sectors and is a significant addition to the team having already developed a comprehensive suite of recommendations for change to make Victoria a more desirable state for land lease development investment,” Scott said.
“Gary comes with a wealth of experience in very senior political advocacy, strategy, research and policy development roles within government and opposition and has made an immediate impact on our capacity to represent tourist park members and the way we engage our members,” he added.
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VicParks is now Caravan & Residential Parks Victoria