OOH LA! LA! BRITISH LURED TO FRENCH PARKS

OOH LA! LA! BRITISH LURED TO FRENCH PARKS

 

PARKS SUCH AS SANDGREEN Caravan Park in Dumfries & Galloway, pictured, have converted many to UK holidays.

 

Holiday park owners in France are training their sights on British holidaymakers in a bid to make up huge revenue losses suffered during recent overseas travel restrictions.
Helping lead the assault is French holiday parks giant Yelloh Village which operates more than 100 parks in its home country, as well as offering hot spots in Spain and Portugal.
The group, based near Nimes, has this month appointed Caravan Sitefinder to take the lead in publicising its holidays to the online booking platform’s million-plus annual visitors. CEO Michael Paul says Yelloh anticipates that mainland Europe will be fully open for business by next spring, and that many UK families will be thirsting for a continental holiday. Caravan Sitefinder, says Michael, will be actively marketing Yelloh’s parks to consumers via its huge database, and through high-profile website promotions. “The British holiday market is massively important to French park operators, and the widescale absence of UK visitors for almost two years is being keenly felt,” said Michael. “But they sense that payback time will be coming shortly and want to claim as large a share as possible of the market by going all out for bookings made this winter and spring.

 

 

LICKING WOUNDS
“This clearly has ramifications for UK park owners as they too are still licking their wounds after so many lockdowns and Covid-related cancellations in recent times. Many will be pinning their hopes on the trend for domestic holidays to continue next year, and I think they have some cause for optimism,” continues Michael.
“A lot of families have been converted to stays in this country after enjoying positive experiences this and last summer and may choose to continue doing so. “But there will inevitably be others who are now looking forward to returning to Mediterranean sunshine, and will be booking with overseas park operators such as Yelloh. So the main priority for most parks will be to seize as many bookings as possible from those intending to stay in the UK, and to do so as early as possible. “In other words, they will have to market themselves far more aggressively than this year, and not rely on travel limitations providing an almost literal captive audience,” said Michael. Yelloh’s parks, located largely on the coast and in popular mountain areas, range from simple touring sites to multi-activity centres with luxury accommodation.

JABS BOOST FOR LONGER SEASONS

JABS BOOST FOR LONGER SEASONS

AUTUMN WILL STILL feel like peak season for holiday parks says Caravan Sitefinder CEO Michael Paul.

Vaccinations are giving a shot in the arm to the business hopes of British parks this year – and with every likelihood that the busy season will continue well into autumn. Caravan Sitefinder’s annual spring survey reports more than half of those surveyed (57%) planned an exclusive UK holiday in 2021, whilst around another third (31%) hoped to enjoy both a domestic and a foreign holiday. Almost half (43%) said that the success of the vaccination programme and the sharp fall in Covid infection rates were the main reasons they felt confident of taking a break.

The Caravan Sitefinder website, which has around one million visitors annually, provides booking facilities and user reviews for thousands of camping, glamping and holiday parks. Caravan Sitefinder CEO Michael Paul, whose company is marking its tenth anniversary in 2021, said the survey results contained many positive messages for UK parks: “The faith of people in the ability of British parks to provide a safe holiday environment came across strongly and is testimony to the precautionary measures these businesses have adopted. “But given the unpredictability of this crisis, it’s not surprising that many customers wanted a refund safeguard in place if anyone in their party had to pull out for Covid-related reasons,” Michael continued.

“Parks may also want to heed this concern, and to encourage customers to have a refund plan in place so that their business will be protected from possible revenue losses. “Very encouragingly, almost a quarter of those canvassed said they planned to take a holiday in autumn this year, supplementing in many cases their summer break. “At present, this seems an unlikely prospect – but we should not ignore the possibility that some UK bookings are predicated on the assumption that overseas simply isn’t an option,” said Michael.

BRITS BULK BUYING UK HOLIDAYS

BRITS BULK BUYING UK HOLIDAYS

THERE IS A RUSH ON UK holiday bookings in case providers are forced to ration their accommodation.

Many families are now ‘multi- buying’ holiday breaks in Britain this year in case providers are forced to ration their accommodation later in the season. Camping, glamping and holiday park agency Caravan Sitefinder says that almost one in ten of the bookings it receives are now for two or more stays. The firm’s CEO Michael Paul believes that the diminishing prospect of foreign travel this year is fuelling concerns that there simply won’t be enough UK holidays to go around: “Our bookings website covers thousands of parks, but it’s not a bottomless well - and many operators say some summer weeks are already near capacity,” he said. “They would normally be reporting this much further into the season, so the prospect of “no vacancies” notices going up in the near future is very real.

“The shortage is also being exasperated because a lot of parks are deliberately operating under capacity in order to ensure the protection of staff and guests. “Many people these days choose to take short breaks at different locations in the UK throughout the year – so they clearly want to stake their claims while there is availability. “We’re certainly unlikely to see many last-minute deals this summer, so those who in previous years have gambled on an eleventh-hour bargain will risk disappointment. “The good news is that there is little evidence of parks raising prices in response to demand, and the majority of stays are pitched at around last year’s price levels,” added Michael. Parks in England re-opened from April 12th as part of the government’s ‘roadmap’ post Lockdown. “May and June are already looking like peak season on many parks, and autumn and winter are also popular with those booking more than one holiday,” he says. The Caravan Sitefinder website, which has around one million visitors annually, was established 25 years ago and provides user reviews for many of the parks it features.