in the press :: Campingninja

Camping at the London 2012 Olympics hits the news!

10 January 2012 : Written by Katie Astbury

BBC London features Olympic
camping 2012

Following the announcement that we have opened bookings for our first three temporary campsites; Reading RFC, Blackheath RFC and Wodson Park during the Olympic and Paralympic games, we have received an incredible response from ticket holders and volunteers across the globe who will be heading to London this summer!

The media soon caught wind of the story and we are delighted to have been featured on BBC Berkshire and BBC London radio (1hr,15mins and 15 secs into the show to be precise)!We had a great chat will Paul Ross and Gabby Roslyn about the project and there is a real interest in a few things...

1. Where the proceeds go? The revenue generated will go back into these sports clubs for reinvestment, providing greater funding and resources for grass roots sport, enabling them to benefit from the Olympic legacy!

2. How much does it cost? £10 per night for adults and £5 for children - and there is no membership fee required or extras to pay out for on arrival!

3. Do you offer pre-erected tents? Yes we offer pre erected four man tents, these can be booked through the website

4. Are these sites really close to the venues? Yes, all of our venues are less than 30 minutes from the nearest Olympic venue and in some cases are accessible on foot or bike. If it's the Olympic Park that you are after both Blackheath RFC and Wodson Park are less than 1 hour door to door to this venue and we have deliberately picked sites with low cost train fares, or in the case of Blackheath RFC, travel from here will be included in your Olympic ticket!

5. Are the sites secure? Yes for urban sites we have taken extra provisions to ensure that theses sites are safe and tents can remain erected throughout the day!

6. How do I book? Booking is really easy and just like Campingninja everything is done online, only this time through Camping at the Games, so what are you waiting for!

We will also be announcing more details shortly on our special volunteer packages that will enable volunteers to amend their bookings free of charge, so keep a close eye on the website!

Campingninja comes out top in camping website comparison

06 April 2011 : Written by The Campingninja Team

Awesome review for Campingninja

Campingninja has gained 4 stars out of 5 in a review of the best websites for finding campsites online. The guys at Cheap Tents Blog (tents and outdoor gear reviews) decided to comprehensively review the market leading websites for finding campsites and loved Campingninja's design, usability, green credentials and the fact you can actually make a booking there and then.

Overall review summary: "The main feature the Camping Ninja has over most of its competitors is that you are able to book campsites easily online..... Once Camping Ninja becomes more established, with more bookable campsites in their database, it should become a great website and useful resource. The advanced search works effectively, the information provided is good and they are helping to encourage to promote sustainability which is commendable."

More details of the review:

Finding a campsite: "Initially you can search for campsites located within a certain distance of a place, or you can search for pitches on a specific date by tent, campervan or caravan. There is also a comprehensive advanced search feature. Using this you can select the options from a menu, clicking the tick to select, whittling down the number of campsites to obtain those with your criteria. It is easy to use and has many options for selecting campsites which have the facilities that you require. You can also search for camping sites which have particular activities available and attractions in the local area."

Camping Site Information: "Clicking on the campsite name gives you a short description and the opportunity to click through to the full details. These include the address, a detailed long description, photos, green initiatives taken by the campsite, reviews, a handy ticklist of facilities, nearby attractions and a map."

Booking a campsite: "The facility to book a campsite is straight forward. You choose the number of pitches required, the date of arrival and the number of nights. Once you have got a date you can proceed with the booking. You can choose to set up a camping ninja account or continue without one. Then its a case of entering your personal details and paying the deposit online."

Green Tourism: "Campingninja have a big focus on campsites environmental credentials and are supported by The Green Tourism Business Scheme.... some campsites offer a discount for people arriving on public transport or their premises may have solar power etc, and these things are highlighted by the Camping Ninja."

Other Features: "Campingninjas has a facility where you can login, save campsites in your favourites and join their community. There are no adverts on this website".

In the review we are compared with 4 other major camping websites and come up with higher ratings. They main key is that we're different, we are not a directory listing where you have to make a call or send an email and wait for a reply; we are an online booking engine for campsites and proud of it!

Read the full review from Cheap Tents Blog here

Cheaptents.com is an outdoors equipment website owned and run by the Adventure Centre. The Adventure Centre is located in Warrington (between Liverpool and Manchester) and specialises in camping equipment, as well as a wide range of other outdoor activities.

Campingninja is recruiting. Do you know anyone?

10 November 2010 : Written by Geoff Vaughan

Campingninja is expanding and looking for an enthusiastic sales team of home-workers to sign campsites up to Campingninja (it is free for campsites to join the community. No joining fee and no monthly or annual fees). This role is commission based and will suit anyone who can give between 10 and 25 hours a week (or more).

Do you know anyone who fits the bill? Maybe someone already homebased looking to earn extra money? If you do, then please go to the application form and forward it on to them. There is a share button for e-mail, facebook, twitter etc at the bottom.

You can find the application form here Campingninja Sales team application form

Happy camping even in the winter!

Geoff

Campingninja has a great night at the British Travel Awards

08 November 2010 : Written by The Campingninja Team

Camping Ninjas all dressed up - BTAs

The Campingninja Team had a fantastic night at the British Travel Awards on Thursday 4th November. We were sponsored the after show chill zone and created our very own camping area in the middle of a glitzy award show with camping ninjas surprising people at every angle!
The idea was for us to represent the camping industry and raise awareness and interest about how important the camping and caravanning sector is to the whole travel industry in the UK, especially in terms of domestic travel. We also wanted to show everyone that the camping industry can match the hotels, hostels and other accommodation types of the world with customers now being able to book campsites online at whatever time of day suits them.

The British Travel Awards themselves are travel's equivalent to The Oscars and the night proved to be a large and lavish affair with Nick Ferarri (LBC Radio Breakfast Show) and Greg Davies (of Inbetweeners and Rhod Gilbert Show fame) hosting the awards. Entertainment included the wonderful Peridot, Britain's Got Talent Semi-finalists (similar kind of dancing to Diversity), who took a shine to the ninja heads (see further down for what happened next)!

Check out our photos of the night

Check out the legendary dance off between The Blue Ninjas (Peridot) and the Black Tie Ninjas.....

Campingninja does the British Travel Awards

03 November 2010 : Written by The Campingninja Team

Campingninja has the honour and privilege of sponsoring the after show chill zone at the 2010 British Travel Awards on 4th November.

So what are the British Travel Awards?

The British Travel Awards is the largest awards programme in the UK created to reward the best companies in travel. They are widely referred to as the “Oscars” of the travel industry and are easily the most recognisable of all travel industry accolades amongst consumer and industry professionals alike; in short, they are a big deal.

With categories spanning 100 types of holiday experience - transport, destination, cruise, customer service, holiday extras, and accommodation - The British Travel Awards is quite simply the benchmark for excellence when it comes to finding out who really is the best in the business.

Nominated by their peers and voted for by the holiday and travel buying public, The British Travel Awards is the largest arbiter of consumer opinion on the UK travel industry.

Why is Campingninja involved with the British Travel Awards?

Well, after working and building Campingninja for a year we have learnt a lot, and one big thing we have learnt is that, even though 20 million people in the UK go camping at least once every year, the camping industry doesn't always get the exposure and perhaps credit it deserves. It is often seen as an industry which is behind other travel sectors and certainly not as sophisticated, as cool or indeed as glamorous as jetting away somewhere to glitzy hotel at an exotic location, or sailing away on an all-inclusive cruise. Don't get us wrong, it is fantastic that there is something for everyone out there to enable people to have their perfect holiday; but what we're saying is camping and caravanning is huge; so many people love it and get to explore amazing parts of the UK and other parts of the world in this nomadic way and we wanted to shout about it and let everyone know it is moving into the 21st century. At Campingninja we're facilitating this by enabling customers to book campsites online in the same way they can find and book flights, hotels, hostels and well, almost everything travel related. What better event to do this?

What on earth could Campingninja be doing in a "chill" zone at a glitzy awards ceremony?

This is where it gets exciting for us at Campingninja - we racked our brains to work out what we could do which would represent Campingninja, reach out to a wide variety of travel industry people, and fit into a "chill" zone. What do we find we do to chill? Go camping of course, so why not create our own mini campsite in the middle of a glitzy award ceremony, ninjas included?

So, we've been working hard and have been squeezing every drop of creativity out of ourselves possible to make this happen. We'll see how it goes on the night and post some photos and videos for anyone to judge for themselves.

At Campingninja we are very pleased to be associated and very much hope we could be in the running for an award over the next couple of years as we grow our business.

Help Campingninja win "website of the year" award

16 September 2010 : Written by The Campingninja Team

Campingninja is in with a chance of winning "The Good Website Guide" website of the year award 2010.

If you like the Campingninja website and would like to put in a good word for us, please give The Good Website Guide your feedback.

It is a very short form and will literally take less than a minute to fill in.

Please click on the button below to give your feedback:

Campingninja featured in The Independent

26 July 2010 : Written by The Campingninja Team

Campingninja has been featured in The Independent Travel Section in the article, "Camping Without all the Carry On" by Alan Murphy. It's all about good planning and how that will always ensure you have a great camping trip - something we advocate (take a look at our camping checklist to be prepared).

The article talks about making sure you have the right tent and sleeping bag, as well as clothing and equipment, and how to pick a campsite, where to pitch a tent and how to set up camp. In short, very useful especially for a first time camper.

They go on to talk about the launch of Campingninja - the world's first free independent campsite booking website - and how you can book the campsites directly.

To read the whole article click here....

Campr reviews Campingninja.com - 5 ninja stars out of 5

23 June 2010 : Written by The Campingninja Team

Campingninja 5 out of 5!

Campr, the website which writes about all things camping, has reviewed Campingninja and we are very pleased with the result.

According to Campr:

"Camping Ninja is a great looking site with rolling hills like our own! But the site’s good looks don’t get in the way of it’s function, Camping Ninja is simply laid out with a basic search accompanied by comprehensive filters to help you find the perfect site, including the option of nudist friendly and solar powered!"

"Five Ninja Stars out of Five
We have to congratulate Camping Ninja on designing a site that makes sense of campsites sometimes perplexing pricing structures and for getting so many sites on board already."

Click here to read the full review

Campingninja feature in Sainsbury's Magazine - Happy Campers

21 June 2010 : Written by The Campingninja Team

Geoff is featured giving expert camping tips in July's Sainsbury's Magazine in an article, "Happy Campers" by Francesca Syz.

Amongst other things Geoff talks about his fondest camping memories along the South West Coast Path in Devon and some of his favourite campsites.

Geoff's take on camping, "camping is about connecting with the great outdoors so it doesn't really matter what the weather is like - the uncertainty is all part of the adventure".

Geoff's top camping tip, "A brilliant camping trip comes down to three things; good company, the right equipment and a decent back-up plan for rainy days."

To read the whole article for yourself you'll have to buy the magazine! Buy Sainsbury's magazine.

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