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Case study: Matakohe Top Ten Holiday Park

This case study has been authored as part of the Northland Sustainable Tourism Project. It sets out Matakohe Top Ten Holiday Park’s perspectives of their experiences and the resources they dedicated to the process.

1. Business background

Business type

Accommodation

Photo of Matakohe Top Ten Holiday Park. Main products

Camp and motor home sites, cabin and motel units

Number of staff

Three

Number of sites you operate from

One — Matakohe, Kaipara

How long has your company been in business?

Since 1998

What are your main markets?

International visitors

What factors affect the success of your business?

The main factors that influence business are:

  • positive people
  • marketing and branding
  • cash flow.

2. Sustainable business practices

What does sustainability mean to your business?

For Matakohe Top Ten Holiday Park sustainability is a common sense approach and can be summed up simply — everlasting practices.

What sustainable business practices was your company using before being involved in this project?

Sustainability has always been an important concept for Matakohe Top Ten Holiday Park. Due to this, we already had a number of positive initiatives in place:

  • dedicated 7 stage on-site wastewater treatment facility
  • integrating environmental considerations into purchasing decisions (eg, toilet paper, cleaning products, Dis Bin)
  • energy efficient lighting and shower heads.

What was involved for your company in the project?

The assessment of Matakohe Top Ten Holiday Park involved our operation being looked at in terms of our purchasing procedures, operational procedures, existing plant (ie, waste water system) and future plans.

The process really identified that in our own way, Matakohe Top Ten Holiday Park was already practicing sustainability through common sense and a respect for the environment.

Where did the motivation come from to become involved in this project?

The two main motivations for becoming involved in the project were that it represented a challenge, and an opportunity to help other small businesses.

Who has been involved in the project to date?

The two owners of the business were involved in the project representing the key decision makers and workers.

How much time did your business spend on this initiative?

Over two hours were spent preparing the High Level Assessment.

The on-site assessment required a day of the business’ time.

There has been a small amount of additional time spent on developing the Action Plan.

What steps has your company implemented since the start of the project?

Since the start of the project we have:

  • completed a High Level Sustainability Assessment, which provided a basis for identifying key sustainability issues and opportunities for our business
  • conducted a review of the detailed Sustainability Assessment prepared for us, and developed an Action Plan, which reflects our immediate, medium and longer term commitments to further enhance our sustainability performance.

How do you see your company maintaining its commitment to the process started by this project?

As we feel we were on the right direction before this project, we see no problems in maintaining its commitments to sustainable business practices.

We will achieve this by remaining open to the next steps and opportunities as they arise.

3. Commitments to sustainability

The Action Plan included a Statement of Intent, which set out the steps we have committed to take in support of the Northland Tourism Charter over the immediate, medium and long term. In summary, these are:

Commitments to the environment

  • Implement waste minimisation, re-use and recycling initiatives
  • Put in place a composting system, and utilise fertiliser on-site
  • Enhance awareness of energy consumption and implement identified measures to further improve efficiency
  • Implement housekeeping and maintenance procedures and audits to ensure that measures to improve energy efficiency are followed
  • Build on existing initiatives to incorporate environmental criteria into purchasing and supply decisions
  • Implement landscaping practices which minimise requirements for water use

Commitments to our community

  • Source locally produced goods and services, where practicable

Commitments to the company

  • Ensure visitors are kept informed of sustainability initiatives, and offered opportunities to participate in waste management, energy and water conservation activities
  • Owner/Operator commitment to programme in personal holiday time

4. Advice to others

What advice would you give to other businesses interested in becoming involved in a similar type of initiative?

  • Assess your environmental footprint first
  • Carefully consider the paperwork requirements as they may have staff implications
  • Work on what you can at your own speed

5. Benefits of being in the project

The project provided two benefits for Matakohe Top Ten Holiday Park:

  • an opportunity to see where the business sits from a sustainability perspective
  • a toolkit of reference materials for the business.

6. Roadblocks to sustainability

The business found that there were three roadblocks that created challenges in the project:

  • initially understanding the terminology
  • project delays in receiving the assessment results
  • sustainability sometimes seems to be an ill defined or blurry goal to work towards.

Contact details

Organisation: Matakohe Top Ten Holiday Park

Contact person: Kevin Sterling (Owner)

Address: RD 1, Church Road, Matakohe, Kaipara

Phone: (09) 431 6431

Email: matakoheholidaypark@xtra.co.nz

 

Other case studies:
Dive! Tutukaka | Fullers Bay of Islands | Wairere Boulders Nature Park | Waitangi Treaty Grounds

Last updated: 5 October 2005