Holiday Park Christmas and New Year Pricing: NZ Example

RevPARGenius pricing guides · Worked example series

Reviewed by Mark Joefer, Hotel Market Intelligence Researcher · 13 October 2026 · 9 min read

For many NZ holiday parks, the summer holidays are the busiest stretch of the year. The calendar fills early, regular families rebook the same cabin, and the rate is often the same one that has been loaded since winter.

This worked example looks at the Christmas and New Year period for a fictional 40-cabin park, then works through four decisions: which nights are the real peak, how cabin types should be priced, whether minimum stays help, and where a floor rate fits.

Which nights are the real Christmas and New Year peak?

The real dates for 2026 are fixed: Christmas Day is Friday 25 December, Boxing Day is Saturday 26 December and New Year's Eve is Thursday 31 December. In the worked example, those nights and their neighbours look like this.

Across these ten nights the park ran at 93.5% occupancy and an ADR of NZ$119. Over the wider holiday window from Fri 18 December to Mon 4 January (18 nights) it ran at 92.4% and NZ$119. Its rate barely changes through the most valuable fortnight of the year.

The illustrative middle, by contrast, rises and falls with the calendar: NZ$200 on Christmas Day, NZ$134 on Wednesday 30 December, NZ$193 on New Year's Day night. In this example the peak is not the whole fortnight. It is a handful of nights, and the nights in between look much closer to ordinary.

How should cabin types be priced over the holidays?

The worked example has four cabin types. The PMS applies fixed dollar offsets against the 1BR Cabin all year: Studio −NZ$18, Deluxe +NZ$14, 2BR Family +NZ$28. Over the full 90 nights, the ADRs that came out were Studio NZ$99, 1BR NZ$118, Deluxe NZ$131 and 2BR Family NZ$146.

Fixed dollar offsets shrink in relative terms when the base rate rises. If the 1BR floor for peak nights were NZ$150, a fixed −NZ$18 puts the Studio at NZ$132 and a fixed +NZ$28 puts the Family cabin at NZ$178. Keep the same percentages instead and the Studio sits at about NZ$126 and the Family cabin at about NZ$186.

Which is right depends on who books what. The sample's 2BR Family Cabin has the fewest room nights (463) and the highest ADR, but it does not say how many family cabins the park has, so share of nights is not occupancy by type. If your Family cabins fill first every year, a wider differential on peak nights is worth testing. Our guide to holiday park cabin pricing by weekend and room type goes further on this.

Do minimum stays help over Christmas and New Year?

Minimum stays protect the peak night from being sold as a single, which can leave one-night gaps either side. The worked example's reservation sample shows 2,033 room nights across 580 confirmed bookings, about 3.5 room nights per booking. The sample does not include minimum-stay settings, so it cannot show whether a rule would have changed anything.

Three ways to think about it:

• Peak-night minimums. A two- or three-night minimum on New Year's Eve stops the busiest night being sold alone. It works best when guests already book several nights.
• Arrival-day rules. Some parks restrict arrivals on the peak night so a long stay is not blocked by a single booking the night before.
• Releasing the rule late. If a peak night is still unsold close to arrival, lifting the minimum can fill it. Decide the release date in advance, not on the day.

Whatever you choose, check it on your own booking history first. If last summer's New Year's Eve bookings were mostly three nights or more, a two-night minimum costs very little.

Where should a Christmas floor rate sit?

A floor is the lowest rate you will accept on a peak night. The five flagged or real-date peak nights in the example (24, 25, 26 and 31 December, and 1 January) ran at 93.0% occupancy and an ADR of about NZ$120. The lowest illustrative middle among them is NZ$170.

If the park set a floor of NZ$150 on those five nights, still under every illustrative middle among them, break-even occupancy would be 74.2%. That is about 7.5 fewer cabins a night before room revenue falls below today's level. Ask the honest question: on Christmas Day, with a 40-cabin park, would 7 or 8 families really go elsewhere because the 1BR cost NZ$150 instead of NZ$120? Our break-even occupancy check explains the calculation step by step.

Do not stretch that floor across the quieter nights in between. In the example, Monday 28 to Wednesday 30 December sit much closer to ordinary nights on the illustrative middle, and a holiday-wide floor would ask those nights to carry a peak price. The seasonal pricing foundation guide covers how to separate peak, shoulder and ordinary nights.

What should you do this week?

1. Pull 18 December to 4 January from your PMS: occupancy, ADR and rooms on the books by cabin type.
2. Mark the real dates: Christmas Day Fri 25 Dec, Boxing Day Sat 26 Dec, New Year's Eve Thu 31 Dec 2026.
3. Separate peak nights from the nights in between using your own pickup and booking notes.
4. Check which cabin type fills first and decide whether peak-night differentials should be in percentages instead of dollars.
5. Test a peak-night floor on nights that are still open, and write the break-even occupancy next to it.
6. Decide minimum-stay rules and their release dates now, so nobody is changing them on 30 December.

Frequently asked questions

When should a holiday park set Christmas and New Year rates?

As early as your own booking pattern requires; check when last summer's peak nights started to fill. Set floors and minimum stays before the first bookings come in, then review the remaining unsold cabins every week from November.

Should all cabin types rise by the same dollar amount at Christmas?

Not necessarily. Fixed dollar offsets shrink in relative terms as the base rate rises. Percentage differentials keep the gap between cabin types proportional, which suits parks where family cabins fill first.

Is a minimum stay on New Year's Eve a good idea?

It often is when guests already book several nights, because it stops the busiest night being sold alone. Check last summer's bookings first and set a release date for the rule if the night is still unsold close to arrival.

Does a holiday park need to match hotel rates in the same town?

No. Hotels and holiday parks sell different products to different guests. A market reference helps you see the range, but the comparison set should be properties that guests choose between, and your own pickup decides the final rate.

What if my park is already fully booked for Christmas?

Then this year's rate is set, because rooms already booked are not repriced. Record the date each peak night filled. If it filled months ahead, that is useful evidence for next summer's floor.

Your PMS shows how full your summer nights are. RevPARGenius shows what nearby properties are asking for the same nights, so your peak floor rests on a real reference.

Data sources: RevPARGenius worked example (synthetic PMS and reservation data for a fictional 40-cabin NZ holiday park, 90 nights from 14 Oct 2026; market middle column is an illustrative assumption). Public holiday dates: Christmas Day Fri 25 Dec 2026; Boxing Day Sat 26 Dec 2026; New Year's Eve Thu 31 Dec 2026. Analysis run October 2026. Last reviewed October 2026. RevPARGenius is a hotel market intelligence platform. It is not affiliated with any online travel agency or hotel chain.

Research methodology and disclosures: Market figures in this article are calculated by RevPARGenius from room rates publicly displayed on online travel agency (OTA) channels, on one search basis (1 night, 2 adults, 1 room, cheapest offer shown). We publish a market figure only where at least 15 properties were priced. The figures are advertised asking prices. They do not show occupancy, bookings, negotiated corporate rates or revenue achieved. Worked examples marked as synthetic use invented data. This article is general information, not pricing advice: each hotel sets its own rates independently. RevPARGenius and CloseMode are commercially affiliated platforms.