Peak prices during school holidays
Comments
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I can't get the hover technique to work on iPad, can anyone else?
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Perhaps it only works with a mouse.
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Brue
I am not sure people are ready for the brutal truth
I have just looked at Hebden Bridge which is a lovely little no facility site which has lots of availability in August and is under £21 a night. There are even service pitches available! Now maybe this sort of site might not be what families want but for those looking for a quieter type of site you have availability and a good price. It just goes to show that the Club does offer lower prices in peak time. Those high prices of some sites are helping to subsidise lower prices on other sites.David
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I tried it on the late availability page. It seems with an iPad you click rather than hover!
PS, I am with the pedants on the other thing......standards and all that! That particular thing, fewer or less is a running joke on GoT!
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£21 probably isn't too bad for a no facility site, however some of the other no facility sites are as low as £14! Which is more in the range of a no facility but EHU CL. There are all sorts of such anomalies across the Club's pricing policy, which seems to indicate that the marketing dept knows its customers and sites in the main. The only pricing policy that seems lacking is that of last minute discounts, i.e. the capacity to generate some income for a pitch, rather than no income. It works well across other holiday rental types, so why not for empty pitches? Nothing to lose, something possibly to gain.
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I think you know the brutal truth very well David
it's not price which is putting families off going to Club sites in the summer holidays. It's because the sites are designed for older people and simply don't have family friendly activities and facilities.
My daughter and little boy are off today for a week at a campsite with a 1000 square metre aquatic centre - heated indoor and outdoor pools plus water slides and a paddling pool for the under fives. There's a new toilet block opened this year and a team of young staff running sports events for older ones - football, volleyball, table tennis etc. The list goes on.
I don't think they would go to a no facilities site like that at Hebden Bridge for a week's holiday even if it were free - maybe not even if they were paid to go. And across the Club sites in Devon and Cornwall - peak holiday area, in good weather, in the main summer holidays, there are 500 vacant pitches listed for next weekend.
The families have gone to other sites which suit them better, and if (big if) the Club wants to attract them back it needs to send out staff to look what other sites are offering.
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it's not price which is putting families off going to Club sites in the summer holidays. It's because the sites are designed for older people and simply don't have family friendly activities and facilities.
My daughter and little boy are off today for a week at a campsite with a 1000 square metre aquatic centre - heated indoor and outdoor pools plus water slides and a paddling pool for the under fives. There's a new toilet block opened this year and a team of young staff running sports events for older ones - football, volleyball, table tennis etc. The list goes on.
That is what your daughter wants to do. People are not all the same. Swimming pools held no special attraction even with slides etc. We could get that from home; just as most of the other activities. What he;d an attraction for the kids was treading flat fish, gathering large prawns at low tide, helping to prepare cook and eat. As for paddling pools and swimming they got more from rock pools and swimming in the sea rather than being on an all singing and dancing site. I know because we did that and they got bored after a couple of days.
Such sites are great for grandparents who might not have the stamina to keep pace with their grandkids or parents that want a week off.
If that is what a particular family wants it is available.
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Times change,Alan.
My dad and Mum took me for holidays in a boarding house in Bridlington but when I grew up I never went back.
i took my children to Caravan Club sites, and now they are grown up they have never gone back.
And my grandchildren haven't the faintest idea what a Club site is because they have never even set foot on one.
This is is old persons Club and even old people change their ways.
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We go to St Davids often ( out of school holidays but including week ends). There is a commercial site immediately( just over the fence) adjacent. Never are there any children of note( even with grandparents) on the CC site, but come week ends the commercial fills up with families. Wonder if anyone is at St Davids now and what is the position regarding the two sites. The CC is an old people club/business and families are not catered for.
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Times do change ET.
However I did not take my children to CC sites as a destination. Yes we used CC sites but the main destination was off site.
The point that I was making is that not all families want the sort of holiday provided by sites with 'fantastic facilities'. For those that do they are available but it is not the target market for many sites of 100 to 200 caravans. Many large sites that provide 'bells and whistles; have statics or similar accommodation.
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I think £21 is too much for a no facilities site, even in summer.
This last trip we used 3 CLs, the first 2 were both serviced hardstandings with good access, one even had toilet and shower facilities, both had 16amp EHU, one was £15 per night and the other was £17.
Our 3rd site was HS with 10amp EHU and was £14 .
I would say the £14 Club sites are good value, and £18 when serviced is OK.
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I've been to the St David's club site in August and it was heaving with families. Many don't see these sites in the school hols and think families won't be there, but they are. We've also been to a lot of other club sites at similar times and I can assure you they are not full of retirees although there will be a quite few taking grandchildren or going as family groups, everything changes for those few weeks.
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We have always looked upon Club Sites as nothing more than a place to pitch up whatever touring outfit we happen to be using. The same goes for small private sites and CLs. They are just to us, somewhere legal to sleep, shower and have a meal. They may or may not have extras such as facility block, a shop, cafe or children's playground. We don't choose them on that basis, for us it is all about being in a location where we can get to the beach, walk the local paths, visit other attractions, etc......We do the same booking a cottage.
For those that wanted more, back in our childhood places like Centre Parcs, Hoseasons Sites, dare I even mention Butlins provided an all in experience, often with paid staff who supervised activities, which may or may not be an extra charge. That to me is a totally different holiday, probably of greater interest for those with young families. The new AS Site at Love2Stay is probably a halfway house, and has the prices and range of activities that just might tempt a few more families.
Personally, I don't think the Club is in business to provide stay on site entertainment for families. It provides somewhere relatively cheap to pitch up an outfit, so that you can holiday cheaper in an area that provides attractive things to do. There are hundreds of all inclusive type holiday parks, that have chalets, apartments, statics and some touring pitches, so why expect the Club to be the same? A few swings, climbing equipment etc are just the Club doing a bit to entertain onsite, nothing more, start to put in swimming pools, games arenas, skate parks, etc......and the fees will rocket, because they have to be staffed and maintained.
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So it's an old persons club...........
So what......??
Saga do very well (197 million pound profit) out of focusing on the over 50's.
What's wrong with CC doing the same.....?
That's it's core market, why on earth should it be ashamed of that....?
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We were in our early 20's when we joined. We had a tiny little camper. A clean toilet and shower was the lure! Then we got a van with a bathroom, but because the sites were always clean, tidy well run and dare I say less likely to attract the not so desirable element, we stuck with them and the nice locations! Plus the CLs. Which are the best thing nowadays.
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We were too TDA. Second thing we bought together after getting married was a dirt cheap secondhand van (house was the first). Then kids came along and we carried on vanning. But we took 4 bikes and an inflatable boat and walking shoes, we didn't want or need a Haven or a Centre Parcs. We van for the outdoor lifestyle, not because we need someone else to entertain us.
As our kids have grown up, sure,they have little interest in CC sites they want to go to Ibiza with their mates, not a Haven or a Centre Parcs or a CC attempt to copy those places.....
Both kids are now very busy pursuing their careers, but when they mature a bit, both of them may well return to caravanning.....
In the meantime, we've got the time & money to use CC sites, and we do......
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We have not used a club site for a while now because of the price hikes
.Close to £70.00 for 2 nights at York no thanks canceled and another site found for much less still within the ring road and spotless
Just got back from a tour of Yorkshire and used private sites and pub stop overs and saved £180.00 compared to club sites.
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It matters not that a few members "opt out"of useing club sites at anytime ,as there are still thousands who are useing them and occupancy is on the increase, also as for pitches being available mid week, that is probably true as there is still a large portion of the population who need to work during the week , ,despite the increice in those of us lucky enough to be retired, with the exchange rate with the pound being what it is ,there are more and more from "over there" coming over here and useing cc sites as we have noted on our latest tour of cc sites
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It's my opinion that there should be simply two price periods, summer and winter when electricity demand is higher. In its simplest form this would be dividing the expected income by the expected occupancy of a site. This would of course increase low season prices and decrease peak prices. We are after all a club, why should we discriminate between members. It would also enable families (grandparents, children and grandchildren) to holiday together more economically.
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I agree that there should only be two price bands but beyond that I am not sure in reality your argument would work. The whole reason why prices are cheaper in the off season is the encourage people to use the sites during those quieter times. Doing as you suggest would have the opposite effect. Prices are always governed by supply and demand. During school holidays and Bank Holidays are periods on the highest demand and unless the Club see a significant lack of demand during those times prices will remain high.
David
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“Unfortunately the staff don’t seem to be vanners”
what about all the camc wardens who live on site in their vans? Are they not vanners as they are staff
I have met the head of sites on a site camping so she is also a vanner.
sweeping statement staff don’t seem to be vanners
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This is the age old topic so often discussed and as i recall a few years ago the govt then were to hold talks with the travel industry about the inflated costs during school holidays.
That came to nought and I am sure any comments made to the leaders of our club will be as useless.
We now use CL/CS instead of club site as I have to take school hols. Some sites are full over the summer period but I wonder actually how many empty pitches there are?
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To many price bands is one issue. IMO 3 bands is all that is needed, high, for peak season and bank holidays, medium for the shoulder periods and low for winter.
The duration of the peak is getting beyond a joke with C&MC extending it way beyond the actual holiday period.
Mid week discount is good if you can get it but its not that much of a saving even then.
We have started using the C&CC more, especially during the week and CL's for weekends. C&MC sites we will use come the low season for 2 reasons, 1, grass pitches will be out of service
and 2, prices will be less.2 -
Isn’t it about personal choice? The club offers a product at a price, if it doesn’t suit then don’t use it. Next week we are planning to use a site that costs £6.50 a night, total. For that we get water and somewhere to empty the cassette. I suspect we will also get a lovely welcome and friendly neighbours. It is a temporary holiday site organised by C andCC.
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We usually use Club sites but this year, for the first time in 18 years, decided to try CLs. For my husband and I plus our two girls aged 12, our Labrador and a porch awning and electrics paid £15 a night!!! Less than half the price of a club site. The first CL had a toilet and shower for 5 nights, the second with just a toilet for 10 nights, the third for one night only electrics for £12. I think we will be sticking to CL sites from now on!
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