By Dennis Amor
Have
your say
AUSTRALIA'S biggest holiday park chain continues its march into the
technological age.
This was reflected in BIG4's recent conference where delegates discussed
initiatives which would help the chain in the fast-evolving new digital
age of smart phones and computers.
"We can't deny that we're moving rapidly into a more technology-driven world,"
chief executive officer Ray Scheibs told Caravanning News after the
two-day gathering in Perth.
"People are becoming more tech-savvy bigtime. To say the oldies don't
have mobiles is garbage. We all have relatives out there in the grey nomad
set and I don't know a single one of them that doesn't have a mobile phone. And
many have iPads and such as well."
He said customers were moving towards technology in increasing numbers and
as a marketing organisation, BIG4 had to go there as well.
"Effectively, any upmarket organisation needs to be where the ears and eyes
of its customers are, and that's where we are going.
"BIG4 is the technology leader and we are going to maintain that edge. I
can't see anyone else getting anywhere near us," he added.
Mr Schleibs revealed that BIG4 had become the first holiday park group in
the world to introduce a fully operational booking system specially for
mobile phones.
"This is not an app," he explained. "You can't make a booking on an app.
You have to connect to somebody else's site.
"But when you miniaturise a site, which is what we have done, you are
actually thinking about a new way of using technology.
"The way you progress through a search and a booking process on a mobile
phone is totally different to the way it's done on a website."
Mr Schleibs said the new system would be of great benefit to travellers
who could use their mobile phones to make live bookings with ease while on
the road."
Other news from the conference revealed that BIG would be using
Quick Response codes in its marketing areas.
This technology was being used extensively throughout the US and Europe
and was becoming popular in Australia, Mr Schleibs said.
"Basically it involves using a mobile phone to take photos of special
squares with black dots on advertising billboards, in newspaper adverts or
in other marketing material," he explained.
"You see an advert in a newspaper or on a billboard, walk up to it and
take a photograph ... and it totally connects you live to the website."
He said BIG4 would also continue focusing on building its online Park
Accommodation Manager (PAM) which was being rolled out throughout its
parks.
"The whole purpose of these strategies is to make customers' lives a lot
simpler and make access to BIG4 and its parks easier, simpler and
quicker," Mr Schleibs added.
"But we are not totally moving away from traditional marketing. You'll see
our brand everywhere ... on television, in newspapers and magazines."
Speaking on more general topics, Mr Schleibs said the last 12 months had
been "very good on pretty much every measure" for BIG4 Holiday Parks.
The conference had discussed the chain's new dog policy which, he said, had
been well received.
BIG4 decided to relax its 32-year ban on canines earlier this year to meet
a growing market where many caravanners now travelled with their pets.
Mr Schleibs said 38 of its 170-plus parks – about 20 percent of its
membership – now accepted dogs.
He rejected claims that the holiday park chain mainly targeted families.
"Our mix is fairly even, part focused at the 50-plus," he explained.
He did not believe caravanners themselves were making the claim, but the
industry, which tended to "listen to their own voices".
"The reality is the vast majority of our customers are in the 50-plus age
group. But the whole industry cannot survive alone on grey nomads ... we need
rejuvenation, new people coming through," he added.
