A practical framework for defining your requirements, testing suppliers and choosing a system that fits the way your park sells and operates.
First define whether you need booking management, a broader owner-and-operations platform, or a connected group of specialist systems. Then give every supplier the same park data and live tasks.
The strongest choice completes those workflows clearly, shows the full cost and integration boundary, and gives you a credible migration and exit route.
Lodges, static caravans, cabins or pods sold by unit or grade, often with fixed breaks and changeover patterns.
Prioritise: Availability, grade allocation, stay packages, housekeeping handoff, direct booking and balances.
A combination of hire units, touring pitches and possibly glamping, each with different capacity and pricing logic.
Prioritise: Mixed inventory, per-person and per-pitch charges, suitability rules and one clear operating view.
Privately owned units, subletting, pitch fees, utilities, statements and longer-term owner relationships.
Prioritise: Owner accounting, subletting rules, utilities, documents, direct debit and separate guest-versus-owner records.
Several locations requiring central oversight without removing the control needed by each park team.
Prioritise: Group permissions, consolidated reporting, shared guest data, cross-park search and reliable integrations.
For example: “The system must run direct and telephone bookings for 85 hire units across two parks, while owner billing and maintenance stay in existing tools.” A clear boundary prevents an attractive extra module from distracting the team from the core decision.
Model the accommodation the way the park sells and operates it—not as a row of identical hotel rooms.
Test the breaks, seasons, occupancy rules and exceptions that make park pricing different.
Run the full route on a phone, from date search to a confirmed reservation.
A perfect paid-in-full reservation proves very little about the real payment workload.
Ask reception and operations to test the jobs they repeat when the park is busiest.
Draw the systems around the PMS and verify each connection in both directions.
The system should answer commercial questions and still let the park retrieve its records.
The product includes the implementation team, recovery process and contract around the interface.
Decide whether booking engine, channel management and park operations come from one supplier or several.
Send the scenarios before the call. Ask the demonstrator to complete them live using a test park that resembles yours.
Record what was completed, what required a workaround and which answer depends on another product or a future roadmap item.
| Area | Weight | Evidence required | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inventory and allocation | 15% | The park’s real mix of grades, units and pitches is configured | __/5 |
| Pricing and restrictions | 15% | Two real seasonal scenarios calculate as expected | __/5 |
| Direct booking journey | 15% | A mobile reservation completes without supplier guidance | __/5 |
| Payments and balances | 10% | Deposit, amendment and exception workflows are demonstrated | __/5 |
| Daily operations | 15% | Arrival, move, cancellation and reinstatement tasks are completed | __/5 |
| Channels and integrations | 10% | Live connections and failure ownership are evidenced | __/5 |
| Reporting and data | 10% | Required reports and usable exports are produced | __/5 |
| Migration, support and cost | 10% | Written implementation, service and three-year cost are supplied | __/5 |
Cannot complete the requirement
Completes it with acceptable limitations
Completes it clearly, with evidence and no material workaround
Slow the process down at the points that are expensive to reverse.
The best system is the one that completes your real booking, pricing, payment and operating workflows with acceptable cost, migration risk and support. A hire-only lodge park, mixed touring park and owner-focused park should not use the same shortlist or scorecard weights.
For a booking-led holiday park, the core usually includes suitable inventory and grade setup, live availability, seasonal or stay-package pricing, direct online booking, deposits and balances, booking-office workflows, guest records, amendments, reporting and usable data export. Owner, utility, maintenance, retail and multi-site requirements depend on the business scope.
Give each supplier the same operating brief, demo tasks, data questions and three-year cost template. Score completed workflows rather than feature-list claims, and record which integrations are live today, which require another supplier and which are only planned.
Pricing models vary by park, unit, booking, user and feature tier. Compare the complete three-year cost including setup, migration, training, booking-engine fees, commissions, payment processing, integrations, support, additional users, price rises and exit costs.
The timeline depends on data quality, inventory complexity, pricing configuration, integrations, future bookings and staff availability. Ask for a written plan covering discovery, test imports, reconciliation, training, cutover, contingency and access to the previous system.
No. Holiday park management software runs the core reservation and operational record. A channel manager distributes rates, availability and bookings between that core system and external sales channels. Some vendors combine both, while others connect separate products.
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