G’day Group, the country’s largest holiday park operator and majority-owned by superannuation giant Australian Retirement Trust, is continuing its strategic shift upmarket with the acquisition of the Cradle Mountain Wilderness Village in Tasmania.
As reported by Financial Review, the 43-room chalet-style resort sits adjacent to a tourist park already operated by G’day Group under its Discovery Parks brand, and both facilities are set to be merged into one expanded offering.
Founder and CEO Grant Wilckens confirmed the combined development will further cement the company’s presence in the Cradle Mountain area.
“We’d spent about $20 million a couple of years ago on the property, and lo and behold, our neighbour came up for sale,” Grant said.
“It’s got a restaurant, it’s got some lovely cabins and great facilities that could really blend and work quite well with our holiday park,” Grant added.
The property, previously owned by the Kriticos Group, adds to G’day Group’s growing portfolio of upscale regional accommodations.
The move follows a series of similar acquisitions, beginning with the group’s launch of an 83-tent glamping site on Rottnest Island in 2019.
Since then, G’day Group has added major properties such as El Questro Wilderness Park and Lake Argyle in Western Australia, Wilpena Pound Resort and McCracken Resort in South Australia, Kings Canyon in the Northern Territory, and Undara in Queensland.
With a $2 billion portfolio and a long-term vision to become the leading operator in regional travel, Wilckens said the company is expanding beyond its traditional focus on caravan and camping. “
We’ve got about seven, high-end hospitality, resort-type portfolio properties. They’re not caravan and camping, but they’re very quintessentially Australian,” he said.
“When we think about our vision to be the undisputed leader in regional travel experiences, that means not just caravan and camping but also the more unique, remote hospitality experiences,” Wilckens added.
G’day Group’s holdings include Discovery Parks, which comprises nearly 90 holiday parks and resorts, and the G’day network, which licenses more than 240 additional parks.
Alongside acquisitions, the company maintains an active development pipeline funded by internal cash flow. With financial backing from the $300 billion Australian Retirement Trust, Wilckens said capital availability is not a concern.
“Access to capital is not a problem. Have they got an appetite to invest more? Absolutely,” he added.
The company’s 250,000-member rewards program also plays a role in fueling continued growth.
Wilckens noted that the lingering economic effects of the pandemic, a weaker Australian dollar, and rising living costs are encouraging more Australians to travel domestically.
He said local travel spending is currently 70 percent higher than pre-pandemic levels, and northern destinations are seeing strong winter bookings.
The expansion into resort-style accommodation underscores a shift in Australia’s outdoor hospitality sector, where demand for luxury and unique regional experiences continues to rise.
G’day Group’s growth reflects a broader trend of evolving consumer preferences, and its investment trajectory is set to reshape the future of outdoor recreation and regional travel in Australia.
