Campsite Price Rises

[Jim]

Reading about how in America, where they are experiencing a motorhome boom much bigger than ours, that campsites prices are almost doubling and so many are now using dynamic pricing, much like airlines do. As demand increases so do prices.

It's easy to shout "greed" but they defend the rises saying that their insurance has gone through the roof, business taxes are up, staff needing pay rises, all services like waste and water are being hiked. Coming to a campsite near you if it hasn't already.?

 

[Coastal Cruiser.]

Best start saving more for our 6 month trip

 

[Wissel]

Hope it's not coming to a campsite near me

 

[PP Bear]

Don’t buy the details regarding insurance etc. if the site has 50 pitches then surely they’re insured for 50 pitches. The fact that these are now being used, is exactly why they run a business in the first place. Only way I would have thought it would change, would be to increase the number of pitches.

Same with waste and hookups surely.

You own and run a campsite, is there a huge price increase as people are starting to use the facility

 

[SuperMike]

We have had a form of dynamic pricing here for ages. Half terms, summer holidays etc, demand goes up, price goes up.

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[Jim]

Don’t buy the details regarding insurance etc. if the site has 50 pitches then surely they’re insured for 50 pitches

The premiums for 50 pitches are going up. It seems lots of companies are moving out of campground insurance some after a series of fires and floods. So many insureres have gone bust which pushes prices higher, In california, the state has had to step in and help, as so many campgrounds could get any insurance at all. Elswehere in the US premium hikes are between 20 and 40% while actually reducing the risks they cover.

 

[Holly's mum]

Jim is this your way of telling us you are putting your prices up at Jasmin Camping?

 

[Jim]

We have had a form of dynamic pricing here for ages. Half terms, summer holidays etc, demand goes up, price goes up.

That's just seasonal rates.

Modern Dynamic pricing is often AI based and changes instantly. A computer looks at bookings, availability, what the competitors are doing and sets prices instantly. You could be on a site and your neighbour who booked the same day as you, could have paid less than you, or considerably more.

 

[Eggs]

Prices can only rise so much before the likes of me don't use sites anymore. I stayed in digs in a nice converted barn with breakfast for £40/night last week, my mate was paying £30/night on a site. I know which I'd prefer.

 

[Ivory55]

That's just seasonal rates.

Modern Dynamic pricing is often AI based and changes instantly. A computer looks at bookings, availability, what the competitors are doing and sets prices instantly. You could be on a site and your neighbour who booked the same day as you, could have paid less than you, or considerably more.

I guess just like when looking at ferry prices etc, then when looking again it’s gone up

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[Brains]

That's just seasonal rates.

Modern Dynamic pricing is often AI based and changes instantly. A computer looks at bookings, availability, what the competitors are doing and sets prices instantly. You could be on a site and your neighbour who booked the same day as you, could have paid less than you, or considerably more.

Automated Dynamic pricing will only work if you either control are large percentage of the market (like the airlines)
or,
if you know, from moment to moment what the local competition is charging (like the hotels).

It also really needs to have a limited number of booking portals (like Expedia, etc.)

Given the scattered nature of campsites, the fact that most are not part of any chain, and that it often very difficult to compare the quality of two campsites, even if they are side by side, I don't see real dynamic pricing entering the UK market for the majority of sites.

However the two companies that could do the are the C&MC and the CCC, as between them they could control bookings for some 5,000 UK sites, however they will need to introduce internet booking and payment for all sites before they can start things like dynamic pricing.
Arguably, this would not be in their members best interests, so all pretence of being a 'members club' would need to go first.

 

[ChrisL]

I've noticed prices going up on some CL/CS sites, i was told it was because of electricity prices.

 

[Wissel]

I guess like any business, if overheads rise then prices must.

I would guess the campsites that were out of a locked in electricity deal, or coming to the end of one, are quite worried (for those that don't know, businesses don't have the price hike protection that individuals have). It must really put them at a disadvantage.

I'd prefer to pay more to stay at a site I like, rather than risk losing it.

 

[eddie]

Don’t buy the details regarding insurance etc. if the site has 50 pitches then surely they’re insured for 50 pitches. The fact that these are now being used, is exactly why they run a business in the first place. Only way I would have thought it would change, would be to increase the number of pitches.

Same with waste and hookups surely.

You own and run a campsite, is there a huge price increase as people are starting to use the facility

Our insurance and seen a hefty increase over the last three or four years, our electricity price has gone from 13p a unit last year to 23.5p a unit with some suppliers refusing to quote

LPG used to heat hot water and the under floor heating and the cost has rocketed, our annual inspections and testing for electricity points and Gas appliances have doubled over the last couple of years and we are having to book them in advance

Several hundred pounds a go to deal with what the water board call ‘Hazardous waste’ the chemical loo tank as the ‘Poo Suckers’ have to make special trips and aren’t allowed to mix collections anymore

Decent staff deserve decent money, time off and holidays, so have to have back ups who also need looking after

Rules, licenses, inspections fee’s come at you from all different directions and Government departments

And we put our price up from £20 to £22 and people drip moan a carp and then get uppity when we say ‘Fine don’t come then‘ and act as if the decision whether they stay or not is their decision lol

 

[Catpirate]

America a beautiful country ruined by Americans

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[westhamman]

I am personally looking at more certificated sites couple have metered electric which I find fair. Everything is going to up, minimum wages going up, electric prices going up Caravan clubs are not going to take the hit, it's our pockets that will take the hit. As for pricing I was looking to to book the Brighton Caravan club site for the weekend of Brighton marathon £40 a night, £30ish normally.
I like Jim's policy of 2 nights free with free eggs as well, a real bargain.

 

[Coastal Cruiser.]

Our insurance and seen a hefty increase over the last three or four years, our electricity price has gone from 13p a unit last year to 23.5p a unit with some suppliers refusing to quote

LPG used to heat hot water and the under floor heating and the cost has rocketed, our annual inspections and testing for electricity points and Gas appliances have doubled over the last couple of years and we are having to book them in advance

Several hundred pounds a go to deal with what the water board call ‘Hazardous waste’ the chemical loo tank as the ‘Poo Suckers’ have to make special trips and aren’t allowed to mix collections anymore

Decent staff deserve decent money, time off and holidays, so have to have back ups who also need looking after

Rules, licenses, inspections fee’s come at you from all different directions and Government departments

And we put our price up from £20 to £22 and people drip moan a carp and then get uppity when we say ‘Fine don’t come then‘ and act as if the decision whether they stay or not is their decision lol

If you gave free pitches people would still whine about, bad internet, grass to long and no doubt plenty more.
A lot of people it seems have never lived in the real world so haven’t a clue what things cost they just think anyone with a business is making a fortune out of them!!

 

[The Wino]

Our insurance and seen a hefty increase over the last three or four years, our electricity price has gone from 13p a unit last year to 23.5p a unit with some suppliers refusing to quote

LPG used to heat hot water and the under floor heating and the cost has rocketed, our annual inspections and testing for electricity points and Gas appliances have doubled over the last couple of years and we are having to book them in advance

Several hundred pounds a go to deal with what the water board call ‘Hazardous waste’ the chemical loo tank as the ‘Poo Suckers’ have to make special trips and aren’t allowed to mix collections anymore

Decent staff deserve decent money, time off and holidays, so have to have back ups who also need looking after

Rules, licenses, inspections fee’s come at you from all different directions and Government departments

And we put our price up from £20 to £22 and people drip moan a carp and then get uppity when we say ‘Fine don’t come then‘ and act as if the decision whether they stay or not is their decision lol

I think prices of everything are going to rise for all the reasons you list. Campsites will be no different. The bigger effect though might be supply and demand after all if you own an asset you sensibly want the best return possible.

 

[chaser]

Prices can only rise so much before the likes of me don't use sites anymore. I stayed in digs in a nice converted barn with breakfast for £40/night last week, my mate was paying £30/night on a site. I know which I'd prefer.

This is going to be the thing though isnt it, whether you think so or not motorhomeing was always looked on as cheap holidays, and it was, parking in a field for a couple of quid, nothing fancy just a tent on wheels, great.
But now it has grown into showers and hookups and all the bells and whistles , hundred grand vans and all the mod cons, but it's going to turn and people who started out thinking it's a cheap holiday are going to look and see they can be in the sun in Beni for way less all thrown in.

 

[SuperMike]

That's just seasonal rates.

Modern Dynamic pricing is often AI based and changes instantly. A computer looks at bookings, availability, what the competitors are doing and sets prices instantly. You could be on a site and your neighbour who booked the same day as you, could have paid less than you, or considerably more.

As my dad would have said, same sh*t, different shovel.

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[bertiebasset]

We noticed prices rising both last year and this on our travels. I thought it due to the end of lockdown and owners trying to make up their losses over the previous months and we are happy to pay this extra as we want the sites to carry on opening. Now it is costs rising and they need to increase their prices to cover that even though they are now probably having more bookings.
We would all moan endlessly if these sites were to close down so I don't see a problem with increases.

 

[Spriddler]

It's the result of costs increasing plus, fortunately, increasing demand.
I've never toured by m/h in U.K. but always abroad. For rare tours the U.K. I use hotels and pubs as planning, booking, having a set itinerary and suffering our appalling road, traffic and parking issues isn't why I bought a m/h 20 years ago.
It's good that demand is increasing because when costs increase and demand reduces unprofitable businesses close.
You can pay £25 a day just to park a car in Brighton.

 

[bellabee]

We don't particularly enjoy motorhoming in the UK.
We've done more of it during Covid, when we haven't been able to go abroad so much. However, we enjoy rallies and THS, rather than 'bells and whistles' campsites.
There's definitely a limit to how much we're prepared to spend on going away in the UK. If prices rise too much, we'll just restrict ourselves to going abroad, where there's plenty of choice of locations, a better chance of getting good weather, and the roads are generally much better than here.

 

[dunnah01]

The cost of the things I want from a site haven't gone up by much so why a doubling in price?

 

[Ivory55]

We have never used the van for the sake of it. If visiting our son it’s often cheaper to use the car and stay in holiday inn etc . Car uses half the amount of fuel, campsites are out of town so have to pay fares in and restrictions on time to get back. Hotel has free parking and can walk, large shower and toilet etc in the room.

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[Tombola]

Always makes me laugh people jumping up and down about a couple of quid, then some will spend a lot more on fuel driving to a "cheaper site"
if a site has increased costs then these have to be passed on, its called economy>
If they yare overprices for the same in the area then no doubt the other ste will benefit, again "economy"

If you cant stand the heat get out the kitchen.

 

[chaser]

Always makes me laugh people jumping up and down about a couple of quid, then some will spend a lot more on fuel driving to a "cheaper site"
if a site has increased costs then these have to be passed on, its called economy>
If they yare overprices for the same in the area then no doubt the other ste will benefit, again "economy"

If you cant stand the heat get out the kitchen.

I wasn't criticising campsites , they can charge what they like, just saying what will happen when they are charging more than all inclusive holidays in the sun.
We don't use sites if we can help it anyway, so the kitchen can be on fire for us, we won't be in it.

 

[Tombola]

I wasn't criticising campsites , they can charge what they like, just saying what will happen when they are charging more than all inclusive holidays in the sun.
We don't use sites if we can help it anyway, so the kitchen can be on fire for us, we won't be in it.

Oh yea chaser I wasnt having a go at you specifically, or in fact I supposed camp sites specifically, its about business in general, prices go up have to be passed on, if folk dont like it as eddievanbitz said, then dont come/use/or buy.
Its that simple, future economics / trade will determine if the business has made the right decision regards price.

we put prices up on purpose sometimes if we dont really want to sell or deal with specific entities. Doesnt always work.

 

[Mikey RV]

Fuel is going up does that mean we’re not going to buy any fuel.
food prices going up are we not going to eat.
Its our choice we earn our money we spend it how we like.
some peaple if they were given a motorhome and a free pass to all the campsites in the U.K. would still say it’s the wrong colour and it’s raining.

 

[GJH]

We have had a form of dynamic pricing here for ages. Half terms, summer holidays etc, demand goes up, price goes up.

Or, to look at it another way, the normal prices are reduced outside of half terms, summer holidays &c when demand is reduced. Much like Christmas card/decorations and Easter eggs are sold at reduced prices after the events

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