Down Under, We Do Things Differently
What U.S. park owners can steal from Australia's direct booking playbook
Seventy percent of bookings. That's the direct booking rate across Australian and New Zealand holiday parks. And until last month, I assumed U.S. RV parks and campgrounds were operating in a similar ballpark.
After three days at the Outdoor Hospitality Conference & Expo (OHC 2025) in the U.S., walking the expo floor, sitting in on sessions, and talking to dozens of park owners, one thing became clear: the challenges are identical, but the solutions look completely different. Increased competition. Mobile-first guests who won't tolerate clunky checkouts. Staffing constraints that make every phone call count. Rising OTA commissions. Australian operators face all of this too. The difference is how they've responded.
The PMS Trap
But there's a trade-off. PMS platforms are built to manage properties, not convert website visitors. The booking flow for guests is often an afterthought. And when you're attempting to delight your future customers online, competing against OTAs that spend millions optimising their checkout experience, "good enough" isn't good enough.
Australian operators figured this out the hard way. A few years ago, many were in the same position: relying on their PMS to power direct bookings and watching conversion rates stagnate while OTA commissions climbed. The turning point came when a handful of forward-thinking park groups started decoupling the booking engine from the PMS. At OHC this year, we attended an insightful session from one of the major PMS vendors showcasing year-over-year OTA growth in the U.S. market. The numbers were eye-opening, and they highlight exactly why operators are starting to rethink how their direct channel works.
The Specialist Approach
Instead of asking their PMS to do everything, leading park groups across Australia and New Zealand are now running specialist web-direct booking platforms alongside their PMS. The booking engine integrates deeply with the PMS for availability and rates, but handles the entire guest-facing experience independently.
At RoomStay, we've now completed over 500 integrations across leading RV & Campground PMS systems.
And the results speak for themselves: parks using specialist direct booking tech are seeing revenue per session increase by up to 92%, with direct booking growth ranging from 35% to 434% depending on where they started.
That's not a typo. Some parks have more than quadrupled their direct bookings by fixing the checkout experience.
OTAs aren't the enemy, but they're not cheap
Let me be clear: OTAs still matter. Booking.com, Expedia, and specialist camping sites deliver real volume for Australian parks, just as they do in the U.S. Turning them off would be foolish.
But over the past three years, operators Down Under have shifted their focus from accepting OTA bookings to reclaiming them. The goal isn't to eliminate OTAs. It's to make the direct channel so good that guests who discover you through an OTA book directly next time.
That means a faster checkout. A mobile-first experience. Fewer clicks to complete a reservation. When you remove friction, guests stop abandoning your site and picking up the phone. Or worse, going back to the OTA.
The phone is still a revenue channel
The problem: every phone booking is a guest who couldn't or wouldn't complete the online checkout. Fix the flow, and you free up staff time.
The opportunity: the phone isn't going away, especially for longer stays, group bookings, and complex enquiries. Leading parks are now treating voice as a dedicated revenue channel. That means training teams to upsell and cross-sell, not just take reservations. It means using AI voice tools to capture after-hours leads instead of letting calls go to voicemail.
What the data shows
Daintree Beach Resort is a good example. After switching to a specialist direct booking platform, they saw immediate uplift in online conversion. You can read the full case study here.
We've also published a whitepaper, "The Hidden Costs of a Clunky Checkout", that breaks down where revenue leakage happens. Small friction points, like requiring account creation, hiding fees until the last step, or forcing guests to re-enter dates, add up fast. Most parks don't realise how much they're losing until they fix it.
What this means for U.S. operators
Being at OHC reminded me that innovation often comes from unexpected places. Australia and New Zealand didn't have the same tech ecosystem as North America. Operators had to adapt. And in doing so, they pulled ahead in one specific area: purpose-built direct booking technology for parks.
The outcome? Higher online conversion. Stronger first-party guest data. More profitable direct channels. Less reliance on OTAs without turning them off entirely.
U.S. parks are now facing the same pressures Australian operators navigated three years ago: growing OTA exposure, rising competition from both outdoor and hotel operators, mobile-first guest expectations, and staffing constraints that make efficiency essential.
The playbook exists. The question is who's going to use it first.
Saltwater Hotels & Resorts
Saltwater Hotels & Resorts is a second-generation, family-owned management company running resorts, hotels and serviced apartments across six Australian states, with 440+ employees. They also operate four holiday parks and glamping properties.
How their direct booking stack works:
RoomStay Booking Engine layers on top of RMS Cloud, handling the guest-facing experience while RMS manages property and availability. Payments run through RMS Pay, giving guests a secure checkout and keeping reconciliation simple for staff.
“Roomstay has not only helped us reduce OTA costs — it’s fundamentally changed how guests interact with our hotels & parks online. Bookings are faster, payments are seamless, and the booking experience is personalised and polished. We've seen real growth in revenue as a result.”
Luke Percival
IT Operations Manager
The Bottom Line
If there's one message I'd share with U.S. park owners after OHC, it's this: direct booking technology is no longer optional. It's a competitive advantage.
Parks that modernise their booking experience, both online and over the phone, convert more guests, deliver better experiences, rely less on OTAs, and protect more margin.
Australian and New Zealand operators have already made the shift. The results are in.
Will you lead the next wave, or wait until your competitors do it first?
Want to modernise your direct bookings?
About me
Duncan Waterman
Director of Sales
For the last 4 years I have been working with RV Parks, Campgrounds and Holiday Parks (as we call them Downunder) first with RMS, and now with Roomstay.
