Main clubs report rise in number of caravanners using their sites

BOTH caravanning clubs report rises in the number of touring caravanners using their sites. The Caravan Club says 2010 has been a record year for bookings.

This follows figures for 2009 which show 500,000 more “bed nights” compared with figures for 2008.

The club’s figures for January to August this year show that 4.9 million “bed nights” were taken on its sites. (The number of “bed nights” represents the total number of people accommodated within the club’s sites network.)

Nick Lomas, Director General of the Caravan Club says: “There are a number of factors at play when people choose to holiday closer to home, and in most cases it has absolutely nothing to do with the weather!

"Last year the economic situation may have dissuaded holidaymakers from venturing too far afield but, having enjoyed their 2009 holiday, more and more people are discovering just what the UK, and caravanning, has to offer in terms of a great holiday experience.”

The Camping and Caravannning Club says that recent VisitEngland figures showed that breaks away in touring caravans and rose by 23 per cent in 2009.

Last year, the Camping and Caravanning Club recruited 65,000 new members, 31,000 of those having young families.

This is reflected in that club’s latest figures which showed that in June 2010 the number of families staying on club sites had increased by 130 per cent in comparison to the same time last year as a direct result of its New to Camping campaign to encourage more people to holiday on campsites.

• This news story was first published in Go Caravan magazine.

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