What is the obsession with attracting the yoof
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Wow, Corners, very interesting! Great photo of Yellowcraig. We recognised it straight away. First stayed there in the late 1980's, but that aerial view looks as if the layout hasn't altered very much. Facilities block in Centre now of course. Some great family history there, superb touring pedigree!
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I have to agree to a certain extent with what BB says about a small number of basic pitches for touring MH's. If we are doing a tour, as opposed to siting up in one place, then we won't roll up until as late as possible, and will be up and off again the next morning, so paying over £15 per night is just not on for us for less than a twelve hour stay.
I do appreciate that this is a very radical departure in terms of what the Clubs core pitch provision has been, but it would be something that MH owners who like to tour could view as a worthwhile reason for becoming a member. Would be interesting to know what the sale rate of small to Mid size MHs is currently?
Being able to discount pitches on the day, say after 5pm, would be a way forward as well on none busy Sites. Take up of empty pitches better at reduced rates than no rates at all!
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provided that it doesn't take away from existing pitches then it could be a viable idea. But one or two questions?
Why isn't this been done on non club sites? or has it?
Wouldn't a CL fulfill this requirement or do you prefer the 'big site' facilities offered by larger club sites?
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Non club sites do not style themselves as Caravan and Motorhome Clubs. If the Club wishes to be a Club which includes motorhomes as well as caravans then perhaps it may need to cater for the style of camping of motorhomers. Perhaps. Maybe. Those of us who spend considerable amounts of time motorhoming in places other than in the UK will know what we motorhomers keep on about. Those who don't, maybe, will not.
On the whole, I don't care that much. If the Club doesn't provide what we want, we go elsewhere. For example, Britstops may provide an alternative which is more in the style of non UK motorhoming and the other Club provides motorhome servicing facilities.
The Club has chosen to rename itself, but it takes more than a name change to adapt itself to what some motorhomers would like.
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I am not aware of it being done on campsites generally in the UK although as BB said further up the thread it is quite a common thing in Europe. Some, but not all sites have areas set aside for motorhomes although often separate from the general camping pitches. I would have no objection to the Club setting up special areas specifically for motorhomes but I do wonder how they would square the spacing requirement? Personally I don't think CL's would be the answer for several reasons. They are often out of the way, access is not always good and people arriving late and leaving early might not do the owners any good. At least on Club sites you could have payment machines at the entrance to the parking area so as not to involve the wardens and it would allow access at any time.
David
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Can you imagine the discussions this would cause - how early can I arrive for my discounted pitch, why can't I book my discounted pitch the day before as I can't arrive until after 5pm, why can't I stay after noon on my discounted pitch etc, etc😂😂
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Would it actually be a problem if it did take away some of the existing pitches. If say 30 percent of pitches are regularly being taken by a motorhome, some of those are more than likely to be just night stopping so you should be able to transfer at least some of them for this use without any effect at all. Realistically I cannot see the physically separation of pitches happening on existing sites, it would be much cheaper to introduce a tariff for night stopping motorhomes like the system of "quickstops" seen in some Scandinavian countries. .i.e. a reduced tariffs for both motorhomes and caravans if you arrive after say 5p.m. and leave by 10 a.m. the next day.
You can use CLs if you pick them with care with regard to access but even then, unless there is hard standing, you run the risk of getting stuck on a soggy pitch should it rain. It is not really a satisfactory option but it is one I am taking this year in conjunction with a THS provided by the C&CC club on a three week tour this summer rather than pay £25 plus expensive site fees for facilities I do not need.
peedee.
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I would think so.
I would think that suggestions of overnight pitches at lower cost would be far more in line with the expectations of the 40-50 year old new motorhomers. It's what I'd expect to find.
Britstops are more in line with the expectations of my Physio who is considering a purchase
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Motorhomers well catered for on Club sites? They can book a hard standing? They can have groceries delivered to save them taking big motorhomes out? They can come in as visitors and fill up with water while they are on tour? They can hire or borrow bikes at the site? But I can take you to other sites where all those things are possible .
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One chooses a caravan or motorhome and each have advantages and drawbacks. If somebody chooses a very large motorhome they should be aware of certain parking restrictions. It is part of the package. Need supplies and to use motorhome tocollect? Supermarket car park at the qiet time.
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Well, I can't really understand why club sites are so popular and a lot of club sites already booked up for the summer while non club sites seem to have space? Why 50% of new members are motorhomers ? or why all those MH go to club sites in the first place?
If you don't like clubs sites or what they offer or what they lack to offer don't go to them? If you want all that go where you can get it. You are not being forced to use club sites are you?
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I think that is the case ET. I won't use a full facility site if I am only night stopping. If many others are doing this then the Club is not catching all the revenue it could.
I hope this thread is not going to degenerated into caravaners versus motorhomers, up to now there have been some good points made.
peedee
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Some very interesting responses to suggesting Club Sites have a few touring pitches, for one night type stays. Agree shouldn't take out pitches on busy sites, but ought to be a possibility on less busy Club Sites. From a personal point of view, having switched to a smallish MH, the Club Sites do not generally meet our requirements. We don't need facilities, just a safe overnight place to park up if touring. We have used Britstops, mainly use CLs and small private sites, because they are a lot cheaper than Club Sites.
Example of what was a great tour for us. Set off to Worcester, o/n at Bromyard Downs £12.50. Up and out all day o/n CL near Ludlow £10. Up and off all day towards Long Mynd/ Church Stretton/Much Wenlock, o/n at Much Wenlock, £12.50. Up and off, home via Ashbourne/Matlock, o/n near Matlock, £10. No facilities needed, no access problems, little time on sites. Good value, even though we could do cheaper of we wanted to. The two cheap Club Sites, one went last year, other goes this season, so we shall not use Club Sites at all next time we do this tour. We aren't spending any time on sites other than sleeping, so prices at moment are not for us. That's we a lot of new MH buyers are not bothering with Club. Club Sites are just way too expensive for one night pitch ups. This is what we did as 25 year olds, now gone back to same having bought a MH. The Site isn't the destination for us, just somewhere to sleep, maybe have a shower occasionally, wash my long hair!
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alan, i think the point is that the Club 'over caters' for most touring MH needs.
especially when just overnighting, we may not even take on water or bother to empty waste (the tanks are plenty big enough) nor (in inclement weather) bother to use site showers and ise our own....
yes, sometimes we would use all these things, but 'on average' we are not heavy users of the clubs resources.
so, arriving at tea time, leaving after brekkie, and using less than average resources, i would think a 'stopover' price set at around £10 seems about right.
...and sometimes, we do 'go elsewhere', like Pub Stopovers etc, the main reason being its just not good value to spend £20 or more to pull in for the night.
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If this discussion is about trying to come up with ideas on why the Club decided to rebrand and what could be done to make what the Club offers more attractive to motorhomers who might otherwise not join the Club? There seems to be some resistance to any changes that might impact on current use. That is all well and good does it help in expanding the Club's appeal? I don't suppose it would be sensible to start altering those honey pot sites which are always full but there are quite a few sites that don't enjoy that sort of occupancy so there is room for experimentation. As has been mentioned some continental sites have a separate area next to the campsite which allow stays of anywhere between a few hours to several days. they are often controlled by a barrier with an automatic payment machine. As they are relatively self sufficient they could be open all year where as the site could remain seasonal.
David
I have included a few photographs of this sort of arrangement at Amboise in the Loire Valley. The Municipal Campsite is beyond the trees in background of the first picture.
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a good post, David, which shows how little a 'touring' MH needs at a stop over and how little the club would need to invest to allow all year round 'stop overs' even on a non all yr round site.
the club could then continue to earn revenue with (virtually) nil maintenance and MH could continue to make use (and pay for) the facilities year round when currently they would be going elsewhere.
the photos show a fairly typical arrangement of a site/aire combination of the type we have visited. however, on these, we have been able to use the facilities (pool, restaurant, bar, showers, etc) as part of the inclusive (but significantly reduced) fee.
the main difference is the stopover spaces are more akin to what a caravanner would call a 'carpark'.....however, many MHers are more than happy to leave the larger, landscaped (more expensive) real estate to those who prefer this type of pitch.....often a mix of caravans and MHs.
a barrier entry type, self service style of camping like in DKs photos are popular abroad, an oft quoted example on CT is at Neufchatel-eb-Bray with the (same ownership) site and aire existing (literally) side by side.
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"a barrier entry type, self service style of camping like in DKs photos are popular abroad, an oft quoted example on CT is at Neufchatel-eb-Bray with the (same ownership) site and aire existing (literally) side by side."
Which has a similar payment type machine to what David's picture shows and it is open all year ( I used it this year in January) while the adjacent camps site, St Claire, is not.
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If you could leave a couple of pitches for caravanners during this wide ranging planning session I'd be grateful.
Actually it won't matter soon as our usage of club sites will have stopped before anything happens I've always championed the need to improve service pitches, agreed that stopover pitches were a good idea etc. I do still think that the best model is a site suitable for everyone, whatever vehicle they travel in and a club that welcomes everyone regardless of age,
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EasyT - do I take it you mean that you are paying for facilities you do not use, Toilet/shower block etc. so why should motorhomers get a reduction for not using them? Same here, I chose the site for location, nice views etc. all the better if it does not have facilities, but more often than not it does. Just one of those things.
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...but the ones Ive used do allow use of the facilities, its the lack of a full sized formal campsite pitch (in exchange for a car parking space) that drives the price differential....
going in to use the bar or restaurant is surely welcomed (folk spend money...) and an extra body or two in a pool makes little difference.
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I don't think most new MH owners would ask for the world on Club Sites. A park up pitch between 8pm and 10am, with or without being able to have a shower would be a good start. Away from main site area, leave the landscaped pitches for long stays and caravans. Max of five on a Club Site, wouldn't want to be greedy. Metered electric to give a choice. Call them Onsies, one night only stays!
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Not quite. My favourite sites have been without facilities. If the site has facilities then I will make some use having paid for them. If folk do not want to pay for facilities then they should indeed go elsewhere. As for those wanting a cheap night halt then as far as I am concerned if they use a facility site they should pay sameas me. If I go off site before 9am and return at 6 or 7pm I get no discount either
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I've never known sites where motorhomes parked in the 'Aire' part of a site aren't welcome to use the site facilities. I wonder if it's possible to give details of such sites, so that motorhome users are aware.
Years ago we parked up (car and caravan - and at the suggestion of receptiion) on a campsite outside a campsite in the Ardeche region of France, and though we didn't pay anything reception suggested we poked our hook-up through the hedge to the nearest bollard, and were welcome to use all the site facilities. As we'd intended to stay only overnight (on our way to Spain, we thought), we decided that we really ought to have a few days on site, and we actually stayed for over two weeks, never got to Spain that time, and it became a firm favourite site with our children and later just as a couple. Had they not welcomed us they may have lost our business over many others holidays of a fortnight or so each time.
Sorry digressing from the thread!
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