11 August 2010 : Written by Geoff Vaughan
Late booking trends hits camping industry
The BBC reports a late booking trend for the Holiday Parks industry and the Camping industry is mirroring this. People are booking on a Wednesday to go away on Friday. These trends have commonly been seen in the Hotels and Flight industry but this is the first time on such a scale in the camping world.People are leaving it later and later to book a campsite. Rhian Evans, co-founder of Campingninja, said “our own bookings show 70% of all bookings have been made for arrival within the same week.” This is a huge sea change for the industry and a break away from traditional bookings made 6 months in advance for peak summer holidays.Rhian said “This year we have found people to be a lot more flexible on their dates and also their location. People may want to go for 3 or 4 days but those dates are movable. Likewise for location. People know they are looking for a campsite great for walking, or family friendly, or near a good pub or which has recycling facilities, cycle hire etc. They are not so tied to a certain area”Industry figures in general show an upturn in people holidaying domestically. Visit Cornwall recently released figures for the South west region showing June’s visitor numbers increasing on previous years.Geoff Vaughan from Campingninja said “People are realising just how easy it is to have a mini camping break by simply slinging the kit in the back of the car or on your back. Affordable and easily accessible, camping gets you away from the towns and cities even for a night or 2. Campers are booking today during their lunch hour for travel at the weekend. It very difficult to forecast with such a late booking market. What we tell our campsites is to make sure their availability is showing up on Campingninja and to hold their nerve. People are leaving it later and later to book so it is important that campsites which have spare pitches have a way of showing their availability”.-ends-