EXTENDING VISITOR SEASONS
Neil Campbell reports on his recent autumnal holiday stay...
THE CCC LISTS 18 of its campsites as being open all year round.
With modern motorhomes and caravans now built to withstand cold weather, equipped with proper insulation and efficient heating, more and more sites are extending their bookings to include autumn and winter stays. My wife and I recently decided to give out-of-season touring a go and hired a motorhome for a long weekend at the St Neots campsite run by the Camping and Caravanning Club (CCC), situated next to the River Great Ouse in Cambridgeshire.
The Hardwick Road campsite is open until the end of October — long enough to embrace the autumn half- term holidays and Halloween. We had checked in online as the CCC encourages you to do, and this made arrival a seamless process. We were met at the gate as we arrived with a friendly welcome, which makes all the difference. We didn’t even have to get out of the motorhome and were led by one of the managers to our pitch – and in fact we were given a choice of three.
YOU CAN BUY FISHING LICENCES on-site for the nearby River Great Ouse.
A speedy reception and check-in makes all the difference and makes for a more relaxed start to your holiday, with online check in a massive advantage. It is a real help if there is plentiful local information, with brochures for local cafes, takeaways and taxi firms, and several maps showing the local area. Hooking-up could not have been simpler, with the electricity point directly behind the pitch.
There was a waterpoint about 10 metres away if we needed it, although we had a full tank. There was also a well-equipped motorhome service point where you could drain grey water and fill up with fresh water, and two chemical toilet disposal points. We were on a hardstanding pitch of about 8 metres by 4 metres, with an electric hook-up.
There was just about room for our pop-up gazebo, although we didn’t put it up in the end as the weather was good. There would have been ample space for a motorhome awning, and as the CCC has a policy of six metres between pitches, the whole site felt well spread out. The grounds had very well-kept grass and mature trees across the site, so that it retained a feeling of being in the country even though it was on the edge of a town, about 10 minutes’ walk away.
TOURING SITES NEED to balance the benefits of extended visitor seasons against the increased costs involved.
STAY RATES
We paid just under £100 for three nights for two adults. A grass tent pitch with electric would have been about £95, or a tent pitch without electric just under £80. We paid a 25% deposit, with the balance being collected on our day of arrival. It would also have been straightforward to change the dates of our booking online. There was also a lot of site information available on the CCC website, so we knew what would be there.
Check-in time was from 1pm, and contactless, which is a real advantage for arriving campers, particularly when the days are getting shorter, and checkout was mid-day, allowing for a leisurely start to the day without any need to rush. Facilities were excellent – spotlessly clean and spread across two blocks, so when one was shut for cleaning for 45 minutes, the other one was open. There were plenty of showers, although no shower curtains although there were locking doors of course.
THE ST NEOTS CCC SITE in Cambridgeshire is open until the end of October — long enough to embrace the autumn half-term holidays and Halloween.
The washing-up areas were under cover and there was plenty of hot water, and the laundry looked well-equipped with plenty of machines. Disabled access to the facilities looked to be excellent. There was a parent and baby room. I was also very impressed that there was a defibrillator machine, in my opinion every campsite should have one – it could save someone’s life. The bins were located at one location near the entrance, presumably so that the dustbin lorries only had one place to pick up from.
There were no separate recycling bins, so everything went in one rubbish bag. We were told that they were sorted out by the refuse collection teams. The campsite wifi was also very effective, and with an easily remembered password. There were lots of dogs and it seemed a very pet-friendly site. There was a code to get through the barrier onto the site, and an automatic barrier when you left. There was also a code for one of the loo blocks, as I think passing walkers had been using the facilities for free!
THE TOWN FACILITIES were within easy reach for walking or cycling.
ON-SITE SHOP
There was no shop on site although LPG gas was available from reception, as was the ability to freeze ice packs crucial if you are tent-camping. You could also get fishing licences for the nearby River Great Ouse. I think in an ideal world motorhome or caravan hardstanding areas would have individual water supplies and drainage points for grey water.
A small shop stocking essentials would be very useful – canned goods, bread, basics such as pasta, milk and perhaps eggs. If there is a shop, the essentials of camping gas, charcoal, firewood and batteries for torches should be freely available. Highly desirable food items would include marshmallows, hot chocolate, cake and anything that can be toasted on a fire — crumpets and teacakes chief among them.
Providing local information is also vital some sites offer the wonderful service of a visiting pizza or fish and chip van, but if not then leaflets for local takeaways, and directories for other services, can make a huge difference. Games, books or DVD’s to borrow or buy offer added value. The CCC lists 18 of its campsites as being open all year round, with the most northerly being Moffat in Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland and the most southerly being Tavistock in Devon.
Touring sites will of course need to balance the potential to attract visitors during the off season against the cost of doing so. From the campers’ point of view, a full range of facilities need to be available if a campsite is open — hot showers and a laundry being probably top of the wish list. Our experience of holidaying in autumn has only served to make us want more — we are already planning a winter trip and wondering if we are hardy enough to try it in a tent!
Set just two miles from Newquay’s golden sand beaches, Hendra Holiday Park welcomes up to 3,800 guests a night during peak season. The family-owned business began in 1972 as a site offering camping and touring. Nowadays, Hendra’s 80- acre site is home to more than 300 luxury holiday homes and 600 pitches (from standard grass to super), ensuring it caters to a wide range of guests and budgets. Newquay has undergone a transformation in recent years, as Director Jon Hyatt explains: “The town has come a long way since the days of nightclubs, stag and hen dos. “It’s now a five-star family-friendly holiday destination and that makes the job of keeping our guests safe and secure that bit easier.” On-site security is handled by the Nitoe Group Ltd, a company launched more than a decade ago to support Newquay’s bustling nightlife. The experience brought with it some valuable lessons. “In bars and clubs, security needs to be managed carefully to avoid ruining the experience for everyone,” says managing director Tom Peel. “Holiday parks are very much the same. “Our primary goal is to make sure guests feel safe and secure – without compromising on their enjoyment. Being approachable plays a big part in this – especially in a holiday park where very young guests might find themselves needing help.”
Hendra and Nitoe work in close partnership to achieve this: from choosing the appropriate measures and policies to sharing recruitment events. “The Nitoe Group team is very much an extension of our own workforce,” says Hendra director Jon Hyatt. “Their approach is more front of house than door supervisor and that’s a credit to the training they’ve received.” Security personnel on site understand the importance of customer service and know the skills to deliver it. In addition, they are trained to deliver first aid and can take on basic maintenance tasks, too. Jon continues: “With such a wide-range of functions, it means that, especially in peak season, we can enjoy an ‘all-hands-on-deck approach to give our visitors the experience that will see them returning year after year. “In addition, our staff has been trained on how to work with security, including how to get help in the event of issues on site, such as disruptive guests.” In such a big operation, data security is a significant concern. To protect against cyber threats externally, Hendra’s booking systems are isolated from the WiFi, feature a firewall and use subnets for added protection. On top of this, systems undergo external testing quarterly to ensure PCI-DSS compliance. “At Hendra, we go out of our way to treat our guests with the utmost respect and that extends to their personal information,” comments Bookings and IT manager Scott Dickinson. “Any data we hold is fully encrypted and we’ve made the decision not to store credit card details. “Sensitive information like this is only needed in the event of a refund; this affects no more than 5 per cent of our bookings. In our experience, when refunds are necessary, guests are usually more than happy to share their details again if it will help resolve the issue.”
Alongside external scans and testing, Hendra’s IT team regularly run internal vulnerability scans. Scott adds: “With so much data to protect, we are always on the lookout for flaws in the system which could result in data breaches and issues for our customers.” This robust-but-friendly approach to security has paid dividends, according to Hendra Director Jon Hyatt. “We’ve been welcoming guests from across the UK and beyond for nearly 50 years’ now. “Indeed, many of our guests nowadays first came here as young children and, because of our customer-focused approach – across every aspect of the business – they continue returning each year, bringing children and grandchildren in tow.”
to be memorable for the right reasons. Our team works hard to instil a culture of respect throughout the operation.” This is echoed throughout the guest’s experience: from booking to departure. The site’s Code of Behaviour can be found within the park rules that are listed on the website, within booking information and in arrival packs. Once on site, guests are reminded to respect their neighbours on site, at all times of day, through carefully placed signage and posters. Day-to-day security issues are handled by the site’s park warden. “Guests need to be comfortable raising issues or asking questions, so approachability was something we were looking for in a park warden,” comments Roberta. During weekends and school holidays, Waldegraves employs an external security company to look after the doors on the clubhouse, as well as patrol in the evenings and overnight. However, there are drawbacks to this approach. “Previously, we have had issues where external staff weren’t able to work out the layout of the park quickly enough,” adds Roberta. “This meant we did have some complaints that areas of the site weren’t being policed efficiently. “Ideally, we would like to employ an in-house security team. But, because it could only ever be a seasonal position, it is almost impossible to find the right candidates. Alongside a range of security equipment, including CCTV, ANPR and automatic barriers to keep guests safe, the team at Waldegraves is also working to tackle antisocial behaviour.