Knightly stays set against stone and mortar

WITH its fiftieth birthday looming, the medieval backdrop of Kryal Castle has expanded its accommodation thanks to a partnership with Big 4 Holiday Parks.

The site was opened on Thursday last week, with Kryal Castle CEO Bart Hamilton saying they’d already booked out accommodation over the Easter holidays.

“We’re completely sold out this weekend which is great for the opening of the caravan park,” he said.

“It’s a huge step for Kryal Castle and for Ballarat region as a whole.

“There’s a huge need for short-term accommodation throughout Ballarat.

“We think the offering we’ve got here with the giant castle that kids love to play with, I think we offer something really unique in the caravan park space.”

The park was funded with $5.6 million from Kryal Castle, and features 57 powered campsites, 16 single-bedroom cabins, and four two-story lofts that can sleep up to four people.

Mr Hamilton said plans are in place to start work on another 119 caravans at the other side of the grounds in late 2024.

Big 4 CEO Sean Jenner said the new location is a great call back to the company’s roots.

“It’s really special to be so close to Ballarat,” he said. “Big 4 was founded in Ballarat in 1979 when four parks decided they could get together and co-market each other for the benefit of Ballarat and their own businesses.

“To be having this park just down the road from Ballarat’s really exciting.”

The Kryal Castle location is the 210th Big 4 site, with nearly 140 branded parks and 70 associated sites available to book on their website.

Even though the location is in Moorabool Shire, City of Ballarat mayor Cr Des Hudson attended the launch and said the extra accommodation will boost the region’s visitor economy.

“What it does for Ballarat is give us more accommodation, bed night capacity for those people who are coming to Ballarat to share in the spoils of our great tourism offerings,” he said.

“We know when people come here that they are spending well, going out to restaurants and visiting other tourist destinations.

“Our visitor economy is based on friends and relatives that are still a strong part of our market and I would see that as being a key factor of those that will come.

“I think we’re over 3000 in terms of actual bed nights but we need to continue to build that and some of the other planning options we have, some other motels that have been planned for.”