Elongate the "summer" - bring it on!
04 March 2011 : Written by Rhian Evans
All this 1 hr later?
The news today is full of the outline plans, made by the government, around ways in which we can encourage more holidays to be taken in the UK and also to enhance the British summer time.
The main plans are:
- Push the clocks forward an extra hour in British Summer time - means it will be lighter for longer in the evening (but also a little darker for longer in the morning), also will bring our summertime hours into line with Europe.
- Move the May Day Bank Holiday to have one either in October, or in April (for St Georges Day in England) and in March (for St David's Day in Wales) - the idea is to elongate the holiday season.
In our opinion anything which can be done to enhance what we already have is a bonus. Also, we tend to all travel and go away in such a narrow time period in the Summer, which is natural as that's when the main holidays are, that spreading that further is only going to be good for the economy, the travel industry and the camping industry.
The Bank Holiday move would be great for the camping industry as bank holiday weekends are classic times for everyone to go camping - a long weekend in the UK.
It is also true that our number of bank holidays is the "stingiest" in Europe so adding one instead of moving one would be even better - let's encourage people in Britain to travel and stay in Britain and encourage those from Europe to come over and not have to bother changing the clocks.
The main thing the Tourism Minister can't control though is the weather, no matter how many bank holidays, no matter what time it gets dark....! So, always take your wellies, a good waterproof and a great tent!
As bank holidays are so scarce and precious, they are getting booked up already. Find and book your bank holiday camping, caravan, campervan or motorhome trip now:
Good News - national campaign to boost customer service for 2012
07 December 2010 : Written by Rhian Evans
At Campingninja we are very pleased that Visit Britain has launched a national campaign to educate and train tourism providers in order to boost levels of customer service in the UK. The aim is to train 200,000 hospitality and tourism staff ahead of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. At the moment Britain doesn't rank very highly on a world level if perceived "welcome" which is obviously going to be key in the run up and during the Games. This training, by Worldhost, will also be of great benefit to the tourism industry after the Olympics and especially for our customer service levels for other major events in the next few years - 2014 Ryder Cup and Commonwealth games, and the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
So, why are we writing about it? Well, at Campingninja we're passionate about enabling camping, caravan and holiday parks to increase their levels of customer service. We have a wealth of experience between us in tourism both domestic and international and one of the largest over-riding factors for success is always great customer service. And this means throughout the whole process of someone's travel experience: working out where to go and what to do; finding the right accommodation and transport; booking it all; getting there; the experience whilst there; coming home; after the trip.
It all counts. Going on a trip, a holiday is all about having an experience and that whole experience should feel good. If someone has a nightmare finding and booking their holiday they begin their whole experience in a frustrated way; if the facilities aren't as promised at a hotel or holiday park then that person will feel unhappy and often angry; if people are unfriendly in the local shops and pubs the traveller feels unwelcome and cannot access local life. The list of these parts of a holiday are endless, but all are equally important.
Word of mouth recommendations are priceless for tourism providers, and in today's world this doesn't just mean people talking to their friends at the pub; it means sharing their reviews on review websites like TripAdvisor or Campingninja; it means sharing photos and stories on Facebook and Twitter. "Word of mouth" is more powerful than ever. This is all fantastic for you when you have provided great customer service. However, it is also a fact that people are 10 times more likely to share their holiday "experience" with others when it has been a negative one. Now, more than ever, providing a high level of customer service is essential to the whole tourism industry. There is a lot of competition and less people wonting to spend money - those who provide the best experiences will rise to the top.
70% of campers would prefer to be able to find and book a campsite, caravan or holiday park online - it makes their busy lives so much easier and enables them to find the right place for them to have the experience they desire. Campingninja enables campsites and parks to provide this to their customers free.
Campingninja, the Tourism Management Institute and Visit England
20 May 2010 : Written by The Campingninja Team
A very successful day at the TMI conference in Derby. Visit England presented their recently launched Strategic Framework for Tourism in England. The first of its kind for 10 years. Developed in collaboration with business and individuals from across the public and private sector the framework aims to maximise tourism's contribution to England's economy, employment and quality of life.
We at Campingninja were pleased to hear that many of our objectives as a business are the same as at a national level. Issues such as creating a greater connectivity between the visitor and the experience. Encouraging accommodation providers to maximise distribution through multiple channels like our own. Improving the way in which information is filtered for customers' specific needs. This was great news for Campingninja and our campsite owners.
There were some very interesting statistics to come out of the day from 2009. 76% of the UK population (46.8million) use the internet. 24% UK mobile phone users have browsed the internet on their phone. These figures back up other industry statistics such as 70% of people looking for a holiday in the UK in 2009 want and expect to find and book it on-line.
Campingninja has been born to provide just that for campsite owners and campers. All in all a very successful day and it was great to meet up with the regional tourism bodies such as Visit Cornwall, Lincolnshire, Forest of Dean, Northumberland, County Durham, Visit Peak District and of course Visit England.