G'day Group
Updated on 7th May 2024 | 4 minute read
Our investment in G'day Group supports tourism in Australia's regions and helps create treasured memories for families.
About G’day Group
Founded by Grant Wilckens in 2004 with three caravan parks in Western Australia, G’day Group is now Australia’s leader in regional accommodation experiences with more than 300 properties across the country.
G’day Group is home to Discovery, a network of more than 85 owned and operated holiday parks and resorts, and G’day Parks, a community of 220+ independently owned, licensed parks. The company also operates the G’day Rewards loyalty program, which has more than 230,000 paid members, and Wikicamps, Australia’s number one regional travel community.
G’day Group operates in every state of Australia as well as the Northern Territory. The company is proud to own iconic properties in some of Australia’s most sought-after regional destinations, including El Questro and Discovery Resorts - Lake Argyle in the Kimberley and Discovery Resorts - Kings Canyon in Central Australia.
The Group continues to sustain strong customer growth, having hosted more than 2.2 million guests in the 2022-23 financial year.
Fostering a connection to land and community
In 2022, G’day Group announced a landmark deal between the Wilinggin Aboriginal Corporation and the Western Australian Government that returned 165,000 hectares of land at El Questro to Traditional Owners.
The Indigenous Land Use Agreement provides long term stability for G’day Group through a 99-year lease on part of the El Questro property and the right to conduct tourism activities over the whole of the former pastoral lease area. The agreement also seeks to provide the local Traditional Owners with economic benefits, including the commercial lease as well as guarantees for ongoing training and employment for local Indigenous youth.
Our investment
Australian Retirement Trust (ART) has a majority investment in G'day Group. This investment helps bring memorable holiday experiences to locals and visitors alike, as part of our diverse investment portfolio that aims to deliver strong long-term returns for our more than two million members.
Since 2014, ART (then Sunsuper) has invested substantially to help grow and develop G’day Group’s portfolio of some of Australia's leading holiday park properties.
Why we invest in G’Day Group
ART is one of Australia's largest superfunds. Over 2.3 million Australians trust us to take care of more than $280 billion of their retirement savings. Our scale and size mean we can invest in a broad range of local, national and global investment opportunities to help us grow members’ super savings and maximise their retirement outcomes. Investing in G’day Group offers:
A growing investment supported by the ongoing appetite of both Australians and international visitors for high quality, affordable holiday accommodation.
Resilient guest demand during challenging economic conditions.
ART's long-term investment in G'day Group has added value to our property and diversified portfolios. Despite the bushfires in 2020 and travel restrictions throughout 2020 and 2021, G'day Group continued to deliver long-term positive returns for our members as Australians chose to holiday locally, rather than overseas. Importantly, as global travel has re-opened, the Group has sustained this momentum and continues to achieve strong year-on-year customer growth.
Future focus
With ART's support, G'day Group has ambitions to continue to grow, by acquiring new parks and investing to improve the facilities it offers within its parks. The brand new water park at Goolwa in South Australia and the recent purchase of Narooma Holiday Park on the South Coast of New South Wales are great examples of this.
G'day Group has expanded its reach into several iconic Australian locations. Purchased in November 2021, the Undara Experience, 275km southwest of Cairns, is the only accommodation and experience in the Undara Volcanic National Park - flagged by David Attenborough as the 8th Wonder of the World. And with almost $100 million set to be invested across key properties in central Australia (Kings Canyon, Glen Helen, Alice Springs), and an installation from world renowned artist Bruce Munro, G'day Group is establishing a bucket list journey through the Red Centre.
Outlook
ART expects to continue to support G'day Group's growth and future development, offering members an attractive risk-adjusted return, as well as supporting tourism investment in Australia's regions and creating treasured memories for Australian families.
Learn more about our investments
- Your clients can review their investments anytime by logging in to Member Online or through the Australian Retirement Trust app
- Find out more about our approach to sustainable investing and our Socially Conscious Balanced investment option
- Learn more about our Super Savings investments
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