TH2, a global joint venture of the world’s best travel, technology and recreational vehicle companies, today announced a merger of its Roadtrippers Australasia and CamperMate businesses with Australia’s leading outdoor tourism marketplaces, GoSeeAustralia and Outdoria. The deal, inked today, involves a cash and asset investment into the merged entity whereby TH2 becomes the largest shareholder with a 35 percent stake.
The newly formed Outdoria Group will be the region’s largest, dedicated marketplace for outdoor tourism and adventure seekers. It will offer customers booking and planning services for camping holidays and experiences, as well as equipment sales ranging from campervans to RVs, mountain bikes to fishing gear.
It will also harness geofencing technologies to deliver app-based ‘planning- and booking-on-the-go’ functionality. This includes real-time weather forecasts, map and safety updates, as well as extensive travel tips and local points of interest to ensure customers have the ultimate outdoor travel experience.
Nick Baker, CEO of GoSeeAustralia and Outdoria, said this amalgamation of brands, platforms and marketplaces all specialising in camping and outdoor adventure experiences, is truly unique across the world.
The deal is also being applauded by local industry experts and associations such as the Caravan and Camping Industry Australia (CCIA) as a game-changer for Australian and New Zealand businesses within the outdoor travel and adventure market.
“The immediate access to the hundreds of thousands of new, qualified customers brought into Australia and New Zealand through the CamperMate and Roadtrippers Australasia communities offers a magnitude of growth to the Australian and New Zealand tourism sector. Set to benefit are camping grounds; caravan parks; glamping providers; caravan tour and activity operators; RV distributors; hobby and adventure retailers; restaurants – really any businesses who services the outdoor holiday and adventure markets,” said Mr. Baker.
Chairman of Jayco and founder of Outdoria, Gerry Ryan, said the merger combines every aspect of outdoor travel into an integrated experience for the customer.
“This means customers benefit from having one place to go when needing to plan, book, equip and then embark upon their outdoor adventures. Businesses benefit from listing on an Australian-based, majority Australian-owned, marketplace that offers all the benefits of an international OTA, without exorbitant booking fees being channelled off-shore, together with a deep understanding of the industry,” said Mr Ryan.
Another differentiating feature of the Outdoria Group is its ability to help travellers along every step of their journey – from booking a campsite or cabin, to weather updates and road closures when travellers are off the grid, to offers and local attractions when passing through a town that can be pushed out to them in real-time.
“Australia and New Zealand are some of the most popular holiday destinations in the world, particularly with outdoor and adventure enthusiasts who want to experience natural wonders and destinations less travelled.
“All of this content, mapping and apps are designed not only to enable campers and caravaners to get out more, but to encourage new audiences both domestic and increasingly international to explore our country. We believe that escaping into the outdoors has a great impact on people’s lives both in connecting with nature and with each other. We want to help more people get out there,” said Mr. Baker.
“TH2 is delighted to be a part of delivering this integrated experience for customers,” said Danny Hest, CEO of TH2. “We found that the businesses were very complementary and bringing them together will create a unique set of features in camping and outdoor adventure experiences. By combining the member communities across TH2, its joint venture partners thl and Thor, Jayco, Discovery Parks, Marketplacer and CamperMate, the reach and revenue potential for the combined businesses is considerable.”
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