Last minute stays may become a new norm for Australia’s travel industry, with COVID-19 uncertainty meaning the lead time for accommodation bookings has halved.

Australia’s largest regional accommodation provider, the G’DAY Group, has released statistics showing an average booking lead time reduction from 24 days, to just 10.5 days.*

CEO of G’DAY Group, Grant Wilckens, says that the changing traveller behaviour means tourism businesses need to be particularly nimble.

“COVID-19 has us operating in a very different world. The newest challenge to become apparent, is that operators need to be able to scale their operations up quickly due to last minute demand,” said Grant.

“For now at least, the days of being able to plan staffing and other operations based on occupancy a month or so ahead are gone. This window is now around 10 days, and operators need to be more agile than ever before.”

Travellers are also seeking increasingly flexible booking policies, with SiteMinder’s Changing Traveller Report showing that 32% of Australians now rank the ability to cancel or modify bookings as the most important factor when choosing their accommodation compared to prior to COVID-19.

“For the best chance of recovery, tourism businesses need to recognise that many people are nervous to book because travel restrictions can change at any time. We need to make booking risk free, and offer flexibility if plans change,” said Grant.

For more information visit: https://www.discoveryholidayparks.com.au/deals-and-promotions

For more information, contact: Myles Wallace, G’day Group Communications Manager, 0432 866 094 or email mwallace@gdaygroup.com.au

About G’day Group

Founded by Grant Wilckens in 2004 with three caravan parks in WA, G’day Group is now Australia’s leader in regional accommodation experiences with more than 300 properties across the country.

G’day Group is home to Discovery Parks, a network of more than 85 owned and operated properties, including iconic regional resorts at Kings Canyon, Rottnest Island and the world famous El Questro. The company also owns G’day Parks, a network of 220+ independently owned licensed parks and more than 200,000 G’day Rewards members, and Australia’s number one regional travel community, Wikicamps.

G’day Group reached $1 billion status in 2020 and has ambitions to double in size in the next five years. The company is majority owned by Australian Retirement Trust and founder and CEO Grant Wilckens is the Chair of the Caravan Industry Association of Australia and a Board Director of the South Australian Tourism Commission.