Ratios
An interesting article in latest magazine regarding the ratios of campervans, caravans and motorhomes now used by members. That brand name change_forward thinking?
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Of course it was👍. It’s been obvious for some years that the proportion of MHs to towed vans has been increasing.
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Agreed Tinny the number of motorised caravans have increased considerably, it’s just that the article is slightly contradictory. One moment it suggests almost parity than a 2 to 1 ratio which is twice as many Cs to the MCs. I also suspect the booking data is slightly a spun as a ‘positive’.
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I’ve not seen the mag, Micky, but the increase in MHs is plain to see to anyone who uses our roads. Whatever the ratio is within membership, we don’t want to encourage another us and them battle so I’m leaving it there🙂
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I didn't find it very clear either! Maybe they were saying that previously the ratio was 2 to 1 but are now suggesting that there is now parity? I appreciate that motorhomes have become much more popular in recent years but to go from 2/1 ratio to parity seems a massive jump. Perhaps they are saying that equal numbers of caravanners and motorhomers are joining the Club. I don't have my magazine with me so can't reread.
David
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As AD says, anyone can just drive a 3.5t van no problem...and for every caravanner that moves to a MH that's one more MH AND one less caravanner...
easy to see the balance moving faster than if MH were all new to the hobby.
either way, despite the name change, the club doesn't offer the versatility in pitch choice that many MH are used to 'wherever they tour'...
we've just had four nights on a commercial and I could have had a grass pitch or a HS or even a premium HS pitch, and on any of these I could have EHU or not..no meters just a yes/no managed on trust...yet still have access to water, waste etc...
I chose grass, no EHU plus service bollard at £50 for four nights...(members rates)...im sure the club are trying to 'understand' what motorhoming is all about but I fear there's still a long way to go beyond a name change.
in a few years time we will still be the Caravan Club with sites just covered in motorhomes.🚐
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It doesn’t to me either but it is interesting to note the changes. When we started with a caravan in 2005 MH’s were most certainly in the minority. Those on club sites were also being used as MH’s. Now at all but peak times of the year MH’s seem to equal or exceed caravans and many are used in the same way as a caravan with permanently attached awnings. Not for us, but clearly others don’t want to tow but have the benefits of a caravan and stay for long periods on one site. The not wanting to tow bit I can certainly understand, I never really enjoyed it but it was what we could afford at the time.
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Being generous the name change was forward thinking. 2017 was a bit late in the day, but they haven't done a great deal since. I was flicking through the latest mag, empahsis on the flick, and one thing that did strike me looking at the description of the tours and also thinking back on other such articles is, how little applied to the motorhome or campervan owner. Its still the Caravan Club even if the ratio is equal.
peedee
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Caravan Club has welcomed campervans and Motorhomes since we first used them, and that was back in 1983. You had to be inspected if you had something that wasn’t obviously a campervan, but we were by no means the only campervan or MH on the sites at the time, but very much a minority. Since then, we have always seen campers and MHs on Club Sites, but the last ten years or so saw a slow but increasingly quickening take up of MH’s in particular as they became more available, and ex caravanners started to to look at the easier/alternative to towing and setting up. We know quite a few who have downscaled to small MHs/PVCs because of the ease and reduction in lifting&handling required. Things like E-bikes give another dimension to getting around easily.
Club Sites aren’t always a good location for big MHs. Historically, many are away from towns and villages, so if you don’t want to use your MH daily, (and many don’t) then you need to find an alternative way of getting around and about. I don’t think some Club Sites have the best supporting infrastructure either for MHs, although the Club is trying. Some pitches can be short but wide, not that much of an issue for caravan and tow car, but not so easy for a very big, long MH. It’s taken an age, and a lot of asking to get drive over waste points installed, and some are not ideally placed even now.
I personally don’t think the Club offers a good deal for touring MHs, fine if you just use one as a caravan on long stays, but the prices charged for a one night stop over, where you might only be on site 14 hours, we find poor vfm. The Club network is still primarily set up for long staying caravans more than anything else, which isn’t a problem if you are happy with the prices and other aspects. No doubt things will continue to evolve as do holiday trends.
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I'm one who has always said I don't care what's pitched next to me on site. Also I've said and believe the club offers the same to both caravans, MHs (and trailer tents) and one doesn't have any advantage over the other. Certainly now (site dependent) it is at least 50% of each on site, sometimes it's more of one than the other but yes the magazine figures are replicated on site, again to stress I've no issue at all with that.
But I'm puzzled by one thing. If the club has done as poorly with MH as some are suggesting, or is only trying to understand what MHs need, or it's still the caravan club (which it isn't of course) despite the name change, and the club sites aren't good value for MH... then why the significant increase from 33% to 50%?
Not only that why are MHers paying the membership fee and then probably going to club sites? There must be something they like? Maybe they are joining just for other benefits but as I said on club sites the increase been noticeable, so again they must be coming onto club sites for some reason. I mean could it be the club if offering exactly what they want? Or for this 'type' (whatever that is) of MH touring the club is hitting the right spot?
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Lots of caravanners have got MHs and campervans Corners, and stayed with the Club because they like what is on offer. Likewise, many newbies have joined because facilities are good, there’s always help if you need it, and Club Sites are attractive and safe for those recently taking up touring. So yes, for a good few Club Sites are perfect😁
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True, I would say however that after joining it would appear that many carry on with their membership. Isn't the rejoining rate very high and one of the highest at the moment? Must be something they like.
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I personally don’t think the Club offers a good deal for touring MHs, fine if you just use one as a caravan on long stays, but the prices charged for a one night stop over, where you might only be on site 14 hours, we find poor vfm. The Club network is still primarily set up for long staying caravans more than anything else, which isn’t a problem if you are happy with the prices and other aspects. No doubt things will continue to evolve as do holiday trends.
100 percent agree TTDA, I'm one of those who migrated from caravan to motorhome and have been a member for well over 30 years, 22 of them as a motorhome owner. I feel I have had my money's worth even if my loyalty to the Club is waning, in fact if money was tight and it wasn't for the CL network I would have given up membership by now. About the only time I consider a Club site is for a longer stay. This year the only thing I have booked using my membership is a CL. i don't hold out much hope for much to evolve for motorhome members. I think it will be more of the same.
peedee
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I just wonder if what was in the magazine was a sort of confirmation that the change of name was justified? The majority seem to have accepted it and many welcomed it but we still do get to odd dissenting poster on here complaining about that change, usually coupled with other complaints about the Club.
David
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Whilst being Members, we have been Campervanners, Caravanners, and now Motorhomers. We have on occasion used a tent quite a bit as well. We have had a few years away from Club, primarily because we left our caravan in Cornwall on a farm site, and did other things rest of the year. Tent camping with Club wasn’t great, as facilities were usually a long way from tent pitching area, and it could be expensive compared with other campsites at time we were doing it. When we rejoined, we tended to use CL network primarily, as we were used to “make do” camping holidays, were fit with good mobility and they were cheap as chips, meaning we could have a lot of holidays while still paying a mortgage, the bills, keeping a horse etc…. We used Club Sites in Winter, when prices were attractive, and there were more sites open for longer periods of year. We did use a lot of Racecourse and no facility Club Sites, found them good value.
Things have changed so much, as they do, but for us it’s the CL network now that we pay the Membership for. Not bothered what is pitched up alongside us, and don’t mind that the Club has branched out into Pods and other things, they have to evolve to survive. But I wonder (without much supporting evidence) just how much of Members fees is taken up by HQ and administration. As a business, it’s expanded vastly in the last twenty odd years, one way and another.
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I also agree with TTDA's post....short term touring on a CAMC site is mightily expensive for what many MH make use of...
while we don't often take the van off site in the UK, we do cycle most days and to call in at a site (any site) and be asked for £35-45 for a days parking isn't VFM.
we park, we remove two chairs from the garage, perhaps have a coffee and then we're off....we return, we load the bikes and chairs into the garage and we might be away next morning...
we take up one third of the space on a pitch that most caravanners seem to require...we don't do any banging or hammering for awnings, windbreaks, dog corrals etc...we don't have a car/caravan/awning...we only need a small pitch.
For those who stay for weeks and make use of the facilities (we may not even do that on a short stopper) it could be said they were getting better 'value' but even a pitch and a shower still seems expensive.
If sites offered small, cheap pitches for one/two night stayers I might be (a little bit) more interested.
some sites do offer different sized pitches, different surface choices, EHU or not etc, for varying prices...we were at one such site this week...sometimes this could work for us...but, as PD says, not with the club which has decided on its course of more of the same.
other than MH waste points (again, as TTDA mentions, some of these aren't particularly easy to get onto and keep roadways free for others) can anyone say what the club does now to be more in tune with motorhoming than it did prior to the name change?
a quick trawl of motorhoming sites like MHFUN would give the Club hierarchy loads of clues as to why CAMC isn't popular with FUN members...
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I’ve never really had an issue with the re naming, I suppose we already knew that the Club was more than just towed caravans, but there might well have been those who didn’t know.
Not quite sure why some get very defensive about the name change, unless they blame the influx of MHs taking up pitches on it🤷♀️ All I can say is if a business chooses to exclude, then it either has to be operating in a very high end market, or is committing business suicide. The Club isn’t doing either.
It used to be very picky around outfits, and the Membership did have a fair proportion of snobs who looked askance at anything not brand new, big and shiny, but those days are long gone thankfully. Now it’s the old and quaint that attract the attention, and add a bit of interest amongst the shiny plastic😁0 -
I've just found a copy of the article and magazine and it's not really clear but after a couple of re-reads I believe it is saying that in 2018 (was that the rebrand?) caravans and MHs were in almost equal measure but now the ratio of motorhomes : caravans is now 2:1, in other word two thirds MHs.
...from an even split between motorhome/campervans owners and caravan owners in 2018 to nearly a 2:1 ratio now.
If I have read that right that further reinforces my point made above. To go from parity to this is a significant/great (choose as you think appropriate) achievement and shows that the club for all the 'issues' given by others posters is attracting a lot of MHs for both membership and on sites, again it appears to be hitting a sweet spot for a lot of people
Also some other interesting figures, the club currently has the largest club membership ever with 382,000 member's household, I'm not sure what that means but it's the most club members ever. And if true tow thirds of those will be MH household?
Also it says that MH/campervans have an older age range (I assume compared to caravans) and less likely to take children with them, also they tend to move around more and take more shorter UK breaks over more months of the year and are twice as likely to travel overseas.
And over 200,000 has downloaded the mobile app and 1.3m nights booked.
I'm just putting the above in out of interest and not making any comments about it either way.
The rest of the article, it was the club council report for 2022, is good reading with very healthy figures for accounts and money spent on sites.
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Crikey, I didn’t know that there were now more MHs than caravans, but it’s a long time since we stayed a long time on a Club Site. I would concur with the age range though. More disposable income for initial purchase, less requirement for extra berths, more time to get away, a lot easier if you choose to set up and pack up, so that tackles the lifting and handling and mobility side of things that can put some off caravanning. Anyone coming to it new isn’t going to baulk as much at the prices for Club Sites either. If you weren’t around when it used to be a tenner a night, then £40 might compare nicely with a B&B or a cottage.
It’s old lags that were spoilt like us that find the prices a bit “how much😱”🤣
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Good point about the site costs, especially with all the shiny new MH/campervans on site. Very few below 2018 plates I've noticed.
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😁 Lag, captive to the touring lifestyle, nothing unlawful😁
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"Also it says that MH/campervans have an older age range (I assume compared to caravans) and less likely to take children with them, also they tend to move around more and take more shorter UK breaks over more months of the year and are twice as likely to travel overseas."
If the club 'understands' these snippets of info re MH owners, I wonder what changes to the offering they're making to synchronise with these behaviours?
less kids, move on more often, more but shorter breaks, better understanding from abroad about what MH 'heaven' is all about.....
all these things, which have been mentioned many times, highlight the differences in the way MHers tour when (in general) compared to caravanners.
...surely they need, less space (less kids), smaller, cheaper, fast turnaround pitches and top notch MHSP which cause no impact to others. They haven't mentioned EHU but stopping for just a night or two reduces greatly that requirement.
im not sure the change in ratio of those visiting the club is a 'great achievement', it may just be that the same folk are heading back to the same club sites but in their new MH having swapped from a caravan...?..
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Club members who migrate from caravan to motorhome or campervan may still go to a site for security, but I see motorhomes overnight at pubs, garden centres, certain car parks, and quiet places out on the moor,. There are many options for them - almost like France and NewZealand - and for many that’s the attraction.
One of our grand daughters has a new boy friend who has part converted a second hand British Gas van. They don’t go to Club sites either.0 -
I don’t think the Club are doing that much wrong to be honest, just re positioning themselves in a difficult market, trying to capture as much of the disposable income as they can, and looking at new customers, rather than catering primarily for what they have in terms of Members. It only grates with us because we paid a Membership fee for the old no deposits, shorter should you need to cancel system, which was good given our personal circumstances (we only had to cancel once), but it’s still worth it to us for the CLs. Deposits aren’t a problem, we pay those for cottages, etc…
I will say though that the Club isn’t very good re communications to its Members, and there can be a deal of “spin” and silence around trying to get decent answers to some queries. The new booking system launch was a tech and communications disaster, and given all the special offers, changing of some T&C’s, they don’t appear to have hit all their possible projected pitch take up. Customers like clarity, and all these changing prices, special offers, time limited sales need a bit of wading through.I have no doubts, many will be happy still with the Club, despite the name change, despite the price increases, despite the new T&C’s. For others, like us, it’s a big market if you want to shop around.
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I think there is, for many folks, a need for knowing exactly what you are going to get, and Club Sites give this aplenty. You only have to read some of the CL reviews to realise some new users are a tad unclear about what they are going to get, comments like “ there was no one there to meet us”, or “we had to find the tap and waste point ourselves”.
We have pitched up in garden centres, pubs, Rowing Clubs, churchyards, quaysides, forestry car parks, all legal. It’s what we love best to be honest, every stop off a mini adventure. Usually so much going on, to see, to taste, and above all space and usually peace and quiet. (Dartmoor next to firing range wasn’t quiet granted, but a lot of fun🤣)
My dream is to turn up in a converted double decker to a Club Site🤭
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