park management software

POWERING PARK GROWTH

Posted on July 31, 2025

Park owners stay one step ahead thanks to dedicated supplier network...

Ask any delegate what the biggest takeaway has been from the annual Hoseasons Owners Conference over the last few years and one message is likely to come back loud and clear - invest in hot tubs! What started as a ‘nice to have’ for a few early adopters has become a total game changer for savvy owners looking to attract more guests to their park, command higher rental rates and maximise their returns.

In the first half of this year lodges and holiday homes with hot tubs in the Hoseasons portfolio achieved a 52% higher Average Weekly Rate (AWR) than those without. No wonder then that the brand has seen a 30% increase in the number of units adding hot tubs – an evergreen asset with relatively low CapEx and OpEx requirements, where perceived customer value clearly outweighs actual costs to install and maintain.

Always attractive to a broad demographic, including couples, families and groups of friends, hot tubs are also becoming increasingly popular with guests embracing hot and cold water contrast therapy as part of the ever-growing trend for wellness tourism - especially when paired with ice baths, saunas and covered pergolas to extend year-round appeal.

So… investing in hot tubs is a ‘no brainer’, but while knowing ‘what’ to do to capitalise on a market trend is one thing, knowing ‘how’ to do it is another matter. That’s why Hoseasons offers Hoseasons Connect – a strategic partner network of trusted suppliers offering nearly everything a new or existing holiday or lodge park might need to start from scratch, innovate or future-proof their location.

LAUNCHED IN 2022, THE HOSEASONS Connect network currently offers one-stop-shop access to more than 20 reputable suppliers. Picture courtesy of the Yorkshire Spa Retreat.

Launched in 2022, the network currently offers one-stop-shop access to more than 20 reputable suppliers including providers of accommodation, hot tubs, outdoor living equipment, park management software, housekeeping services, access controls, interior furnishings, architecture and design, insurance, print and signage, capital allowances and training services (including hot tub maintenance!).

More than 100 leads have been generated for network members in the last two-and-a-half years, with accommodation owners seeing a wide range of benefits from dealing with experts in their field, including Jacuzzi and Pinelog.

Miles Dewhurst, CEO at Yorkshire Spa Retreat – part of Hoseasons’ Magnificent Collection, works with Hoseasons Connect partners 1 Stop Spas and Leisure and Rix Leisure (Victory Leisure Homes and Prestige Lodges).

He says: “The real added value you get from being able to access the Hoseasons Connect community is not just the products and services themselves, it’s also the insights and innovations these trusted suppliers bring to the table that mean you’re always aware of what’s driving the market, and what might be the next big thing before investing in growth.”

HOSEASONS CONNECT gives owners access to expert suppliers like 1 Stop Spas, Omar Lodges, and HLF Group.

Phil Mackay, Director of Hire Fleet at Raywell Hall Country Lodges – Hoseasons’ current Best in Britain for lodges and parks - is also a big advocate of Hoseasons Connect and has a longstanding relationship with accommodation supplier Omar Lodges. He says: “We realised a long time ago that competitive advantage comes from constantly innovating to stay one step ahead of the rest, and that means working with the best partners along the way.

The fact Hoseasons has brought all these suppliers together in one network is not only incredibly helpful for parks like us, it also very clearly demonstrates their commitment to helping us grow both our income and profitability.” David Hall, Head of Commercial Strategy and Transformation at Northumbrian Water – the parent company of Kielder Waterside – is also a fan of the network.

Working closely with accommodation suppliers Oakgrove Lodges and furniture suppliers HLF Group, he says: “The most important thing about any supplier is that they understand your business. Both Oakgrove and HLF deliver exceptional quality and service and come with a reassuring Hoseasons seal of approval.”

All new owners joining the Hoseasons portfolio are invited to access the Hoseasons Connect community and take advantage of a range of key business contacts, promotional material, discounted rates and other benefits.

WELLNESS-FOCUSED stays are on the rise – hot tubs, saunas and outdoor living drive year-round picture courtesy of Raywell Hall Country Lodges.

Paul Shoebridge, Business Development Director at Awaze – the parent company of Hoseasons – says: “We want to do everything we can to give our owners the best chance of maximising their ROI. Hoseasons Connect brings together the best suppliers in the business so that small family-run operations to large corporate parks can make informed choices about the best way to future proof their customer offer.” For more information about Hoseasons Connect, or to request a digital prospectus please get in touch.

Hoseasons
0345 268 1500
supplypartnerships@hoseasons.co.uk

Raywell Hall Country Lodges
01482 300801
www.raywellhall.co.uk

Yorkshire Spa Retreat
01439 413102
www.yorkshire-spa-retreat.co.uk

RAYWELL HALL’S AWARD-WINNING team with Gemma Brown from Hoseasons (centre), celebrating success at the Owners’ Conference.

LODGES AND HOLIDAY HOMES with hot tubs in the Hoseasons portfolio achieved a 52% higher Average Weekly Rate (AWR) than those without, picture courtesy of Raywell Hall Country Lodges.

Holiday Snaps – Niall Norris

Posted on November 6, 2018

Holiday Snaps - Niall NorrisHoliday Snaps

Niall Norris is the sales director at CampManager

(www.campmanager.com), a company that provide Park Management and Booking Systems to campsites and holiday parks throughout the UK & Ireland.

What was your career path?

Having spent 29 years in sales within corporate banking, developing client relationships and providing added value solutions for their businesses, the opportunity arose to leave the banking world and work with my brother in CampManager. That was 10 years ago, and the business has grown to have over 400 campsites and holiday parks using the CampManager software solution.

What changes have you seen?

10 years ago, most bookings were being made via the telephone. We have seen significant growth in the number of online bookings, with some of our customers receiving up to 90% of their bookings online. With CampManager you take commission-free bookings on your own website, saving staff valuable time, automating the booking process, and generating more bookings for your business.

How do you predict things will change in the next five to ten years?

Customers are tending to go away on breaks more regularly but for shorter periods and are booking last minute. The Glamping market has seen considerable growth with a great selection of luxury and different accommodation types attracting the younger generation.

What is the best piece of business advice you have been given and by whom? My first sales director said, “Sales are important, but customer retention is more important.” Customers will remain customers if you provide a quality product which is competitively priced, with excellent customer service and always be available to speak to them.

What do you most like to spend your time doing out of working hours?

A good walk in the countryside followed by a few pints of Guinness. I enjoy good food, having the ‘craic’ and spending time with my family (4 children and three grandchildren).

Your dream dinner guests?

Jack Reacher and his creator, the thriller author Lee Child and Keith Floyd a restaurateur and food writer. I love his humour and alternative approach to cooking. Do you have any claims to fame? Sat beside and chatted to Faye Tozer on a flight from London to Belfast nearly 20 years ago and only realised when I got home and saw them on TV that she was in the band Steps. My daughter didn’t forgive me for some time for not getting her autograph.

Where do take your holidays?

I love the outdoors and have been tenting for over 40 years – nothing better than heading off with my wife in the car with our tent and going where the mood takes us. If I need to get away to the sun – Majorca in the mountains with a good bottle of red wine.

Web Wise

Posted on September 1, 2017

Web Wise - Online Bookings

The sense that many potential customers are just looking, not booking is common. Web visitors often just want to get a picture of what’s available. At other times they’re unable to commit to plans until they’ve settled on exact dates with friends and family.

Whatever the reason, conversion rates in the travel industry are surprisingly low, and that’s why it is crucial for holiday park owners to get the booking process right. More people are using the web to shop around for holidays than ever before, and this WEb Wise 1means they’re only a swipe away from comparing prices with a competitor.

Research has shown that 37 per cent of consumers abandon travel purchases at the last minute because they want to do further research or find a cheaper price. But when margins in the industry are low, competing on price is difficult. Instead, holiday park owners should focus on delivering a streamlined shopping experience and a fuss-free checkout process. With so many holiday options on offer, it’s vital that potential customers don’t vanish at the finish line.

Choosing the most appropriate booking system requires park owners and managers to match their needs with the features of a product. But no two holiday parks are identical and it might seem difficult to find a system with all the necessary functions and flexibility. This is why CampManager, a leading Park Management Software provider, assists more than 300 campsites and caravan parks throughout the UK and Ireland with an online booking solution suited to the individual parks’ requirements.

“There are many different booking systems in the market, some of which have been adapted from hotel booking systems, which may not provide you with the pricing functionality that you require,” says Niall Norris of CampManager. “It’s important to select a booking system which is specifically designed to manage all your different pricing requirements – season dates, minimum stays and set arrival dates – and all your different rental accommodation and touring pitch characteristics.”

However, park owners should realise that the best solution may not come right out of a box. Sometimes choosing a booking system is more about modifying an existing offering to fit a park’s individual specifications. For Dafydd Lawrence, head of information systems at Bluestone National Park Resort, an award-winning retreat in the rolling Pembrokeshire countryside, it was important to create a bespoke solution that would fit with the park’s existing digital infrastructure. WEb Wise 2

“Having a web API in our main booking system allowed us to write our own online platform that talks directly to our booking system,” Lawrence explains. “Any system that makes you use an ‘off-the-shelf’ website or their own web booking engine can severely limit how much you can customise the experience for your guests.” The most obvious step to making booking on your site easy is to ensure that it works well on mobile devices.

To read more about getting 'Web Wise' please subscribe to Holiday Park Scene here.

COMPANY CONTACTS

CAMPMANAGER - Tel. 02081 331 005 -  www.campmanager.com
GEMAPARK -  Tel. 01983 282 420 - www.gemapark.co.uk
PITCHED - Tel. 01726 418 118 - www.pitched.co.uk

Net Gains

Posted on September 8, 2015

Net Gains

Almost 80 per cent of Brits now use the internet to research their holidays.

Almost 80 per cent of Brits now use the internet to research their holidays.

Revolutionising the way that we live, work, shop, and communicate, startling figures from the National Office of Statistics revealed that 38 million adults in the UK accessed the internet every day in 2014. What’s more, 74 per cent of people bought goods or services online, up from 53 per cent in 2008.

The tourism industry is continuing to evolve around technology, with increasing access to information and services available at the customers’ finger tips. Guests now expect to see clear and representative images of accommodation and resort facilities online before they book. They want to read reviews, share other people’s experiences of the resort so they can decide whether or not it meets with their needs. And they expect to be able to do all this online, using whatever device they choose, whether it’s a smartphone, tablet PC, handheld computer or laptop.

“Users are booking when it’s convenient for them,” says Dawn Bee of website and business system provider Netguides. “Younger users don’t want to talk to anyone to book, it’s just not familiar behaviour for them anymore so they feel uncomfortable doing it. This means you are missing out on a lot of customers if you don’t take online bookings.”

Niall Norris of management and booking software CampManager concurs: “The number of holiday parks and campsites taking bookings online has increased dramatically in recent years,”

“We can see similar trends from all our clients across the UK, Ireland and France, that the proportion of bookings being made online is now averaging between 50 to 75 per cent of all bookings.”

The number of holiday parks and campsites taking bookings online has increased dramatically in recent years. Pic: CampManager.

The number of holiday parks and campsites taking bookings online has increased dramatically in recent years. Pic: CampManager.

Keeping up-to-date with the latest technology by moving to a computerised booking and management system may seem daunting, but Niall stresses the importance of moving with the times: “The right booking and management system will actually save you money, generate more business and free up so much of your time.

“We recommend that all parks to update their online booking pages and websites to be Mobile and Tablet compatible. We see clear trends that over 50 per cent of online bookings are now being made on Tablet and Smartphone devices.” He adds: “To ensure that you are catering for these customers and not losing out on bookings, it is important to address this immediately.”

CampManager offers a complete end to end process for managing a caravan park or campsite. Covering all aspects of site management, booking management and online booking, the system is user-friendly and can be tailored to suit the individual needs of each park.

“It is important to remember that not all visitors to your website have stayed at your park before. Therefore it is hugely important that your website is maintained as much as the park,” advises Niall. “An old and tired looking website, with poor quality photos will not attract new customers. Also a poor booking system that takes a long time just to check availability and does not provide alternative dates will frustrate your customers and potentially drive them elsewhere.”

The biggest change to online bookings that Dawn Bee of Netguides has seen in recent years is the move to mobile responsive online booking. Dawn explains: “There has been a surge in the popularity of mobile responsive bookings following Google’s emphasis in their search algorithm for mobile search and the growing use of mobile devices to book online.”

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