Buyer's guide
Staff on the boom, remotes, swipe cards, RFID fobs, PIN keypads, number-plate recognition — there are a few ways to control who drives into a holiday or caravan park. Here's how they compare on the things that actually matter: admin, security, guest experience and cost.
| Method | Guest needs | Auto from bookings | Lost / shared risk | Reception effort |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Staff at the boom | Nothing — but must stop and wait | Manual | None | Very high — someone mans the gate |
| Remote clickers | A handset per vehicle | No | High — lost, copied, kept | High — hand out and chase returns |
| Swipe cards / RFID fobs | A card or fob per vehicle | No — issued by hand | High — lost, shared, not returned | High — encode, issue, deactivate |
| PIN keypad | A code to remember | Yes, with the right system | Medium — codes get shared | Low — codes can auto-generate |
| Number-plate (ANPR)SmartParks | Nothing — just their car | Yes — synced automatically | Low — nothing to lose or hand back | Lowest — access follows the booking |
Comparison of common gate-access approaches for Australian holiday and caravan parks.
SmartParks skips physical credentials entirely. Two products cover the range, and both sync with your booking system:
Both connect to RMS Cloud and NewBook, so access is created and revoked in step with your bookings. New to number-plate access? Start with the complete guide to ANPR for caravan parks.
With swipe cards or RFID fobs, you issue a physical credential to every guest and vehicle, then deactivate or collect it later — and they get lost, shared and kept. With ANPR, the guest's number plate is the credential: it's read automatically from their booking, works with no handout, and expires at check-out. Nothing to issue, lose or chase.
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Tell us about your setup and we'll walk you through how SmartParks can work for your park.
Automatic Number Plate Recognition. Cameras read vehicle plates and match them to active bookings in real time — guests drive straight in without stopping.