It's official...we are crazy for campervans
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It is called evolveing rather than as some would hope, go full tilt into some thing ,and it has been a successful method for decades , as we who have seen it happen and the increase in use of sites and the need for more seems to be all part of the process, that is successful for the majority of this "Inclusive clubs" All types of LV user
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The Club are trying to sell the ‘lifestyle’
The club is simply trying to peddle its wares Nige. Any lifestyle that is dependent solely on what the club supplies is a pipe dream. The lifestyle is use of a recreational vehicle. Adventure inspirations are not provided by the club and never have been as the adventures are off site. All that caravan sites have done is provide a place to park up or return to whilst adventuring nearby. I have not seen any canoe slalom course, climbing walls or zip lines on any site
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There are ample commecial sites so we are "advised" that cater for those who would want that type of entertainment,but than they are called Holiday camps that normally have touring LVs as a sideline, there is one we we looked at in Norfolk but the fees in peak period were way above what members of the cc would expect to pay
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It is a very long drive from the vast majority of club sites, both CC and CC&C, to get to a place where one might surf - were the conditions favourable in the first place ! !
"Lifestyle" is what an individual does - and no two will be the same. Places to stop with a caravan (other names are available) with varying levels of facilities are what the Caravan Club does.
[ I just dont believe that more campers go surfing than, for example, bird watching or dog exercising. ]
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[ I just dont believe that more campers go surfing than, for example, bird watching or dog exercising. ]
I expect it varies by area, Nav, and surfers abound down here. A few even stay on club sites but the campervanners seem to prefer cliff top car parks from what I’ve seen.
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I did enjoy watching surfers from the Old Hartley site, though it didn't appear that any of them were staying on the site, even though it has the small hardstandings and a waste emptying place on the way out that we are told they want.
One thing you might be able to explain from your own observations is why they all seemed to spend the vast majority of their time sitting or standing up to their neck in the water and going nowhere.
We guessed that they might be thinking that a particular wave was not good enough, and the next one along might be better. If so, they will certainly fit in well on Caravan Club sites during the high noon dash around to get the best pitch !
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I’m no surfer, Nav, but that does seem to be a common phenomenon. I believe they do wait tor the right wave. I wonder if one person's best wave is another's equivalent of a dark pitch behind the facility block?😀
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BVM's van is 5.4m long. A LWM VW Transporter is 5.3m long.
they are both MHs, or Both campervans or whatever....
even at these lengths the majority will have the services describe in BVM's post...
.in fact Adria and Carthago now produce fixed bed versions on this length of chassis.
so, what's in a name.
the key is the growth sales of small self propelled vans
the survey (whether we are talking campervans or whatever) is highlighting that there is strong growth in the non-towing sector of 'caravan' ownership.
buyers are choosing these small vans for there own reasons, no doubt a primary one is to have something different (with all of its advantages mentioned upthread) from a tow car and caravan.
these differences include the aforementioned spontenaiety....
..but is definitely not just this survey highlighting this shift, the same trend is also reflected in other MH publications, including dealer interviews.
small vans/MH/PVC etc are selling like hot cakes...the club seems to have recognised this.....
the question remains, have they recognised what these changes mean.
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big +1 there
I think some posters want the club to change to suit them?
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+1
indeed how polite is it GN to write things like about your fellow posters?
Numerous pages of drivel
It IS boring, very boring
Where is the repect there?
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The Campervan Infographic does not say how/when/where or how frequently the campervan owners surveyed use their vehicles for leisure/holidays/time away etc. What it does imply is that these vehicles were owned at the time of the survey therefore in IMHO the owners of these vehicles have been finding places to stay that suit their needs when they use them. So I personally see the Infographic is an 'advert'.
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have they recognised what these changes mean.
The changes mean that those who currently want a particular lifestyle that they percieve to be attainable through the use of a Camper (other words are available) are rushing out to buy them, and will do so until everyone who wants one has got one - if they haven't all got one already !
Then along comes the next change. I have no way of guessing what it might be, but I can be faily certain it will be powered by millenial snowflakes.
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good one
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As Nav says people will buy a campervan (actually any type of LV) to achieve a certain 'lifestyle' with it. That lifestyle could be with the club as it is in which case they will join, or not and they won't and go to sites with other facilities or off grid.
The club offers a certain type of site, and by the amount of motor homes going to club sites is very sucessful at attracting MHs, there is little it needs to do to attract these poeple buying a campervan, they will either join or not depending on if club sites fits their type of 'lifestyle'
I have to say, iMHO of course those promoting change appear to just want cheaper club prices for themselves, at a cost (not just money) to others members of the club
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Do you really think that CT is dragging the reputation of the Club down when compared to the Clubs own presentations like Caravanners of the Year. Or the Club Chairman demonstrating how to pitch his caravan?
Perhaps you haven’t seen them? Please have a look and then decide for yourself if the Club needs any help in dissuading potential new members.
Ken
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One of the "problems" that seem to beset numerous companies is the ever more well financed Marketing Depts, who mostly with no real grass roots knowledge of the product or customer base they are trying to promote, how many times in recent history have "product names" been changed in the name of "improving the product" the latest to revert to its most popular and well known is Carte Noir coffee did anyone ever recognise the "new" name,and the cc club marketing Dept are no different when noted in the amount of glaring "mistakes?" that they make with some of their promotions? that are seen,in plenty of things they do
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Ken
The Chairman ripping the back off his caravan was contrived. The whole thing was deliberate. I was surprised to hear this but the long serving employee that told me, was definitive about it. It was all a set up for TV. Not necessarily great for the Club image, but it was no inept accident.
And yes, any newly recruited member reading some of the content on this forum, IMO, would take an unfavorable opinion of the Club they have joined. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have said so. Unlike other forms of social media, such as independent Facebook Groups, Twitter, independent caravanning forums etc, this forum is governed by the Club. So to a new member, reading some of the contentious posts that often appear, it’s content comes across as endorsed and thus, reflective of the way the Club is operated. I feel this forum is damaging, not necessarily for new recruitment, but certainly retained membership. In particular, the division that often appears between the realms of caravan, motorhome and now campervan ownership, doesn’t put the Club in a good light.
Just my opinion, which I don’t mind being challenged. I have a thick skin
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If it was contrived, which I very much doubt, it demonstrates an even bigger error of judgement by the Chairman in going along with it than his original misplaced decision to associate himself and the club with the COTY program.
Whilst this forum does indeed do nothing to encourage new members - see my earlier post regarding it always having been a poor shop window - it doesn't appear to have put off the many who join the club. As far as I recall, you have only been a poster for the last year or so, GN. Did you join the club around the same time? Whether you did or not, I’m surprised you post here given your feelings.
People join this club and stay members for a variety of reasons - club sites, CLs, the travel service, insurance - but I can be pretty sure that none join with the main purpose of using the forum. Therefore, the forum is an irrelevance which is either used or ignored by members and has no, or negligible, bearing on people’s decision regarding joining.
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Coming up to 10 years TW, guess I’ve been posting occasionally for around three years. I’m no regular, but I’m well up for giving my opinion on topics that I feel strongly about. For example, forward booking. I gave it plenty over that one and was delighted when the Club changed tack.
The guy who I chatted with about the TV programme was adamant, to the extent that like you, I didn’t believe it was contrived either but he convinced me otherwise. Suppose you had to be there to hear his reasoning.
The same employee also quoted figures of new motorhomers joining the club since the name change which, seemed dubious, but have to an extent been confirmed in the original post of this thread.
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I think you only have to look at the number of regular posters on CT against the total number of club members to prove your point TW.
Also most people nowdays are 'internet intelliegent' and understand that what happens on an internet forum bears little resemblence to what happens in real life.
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Cheers, Corners.
I think, too, people are quite capable of using the parts of the club they want and disregarding the rest. If they like part of the club’s offering (sites, maybe) they won’t let a forum stop them enjoying the very thing they joined for.
I think most of us already here regard the forum as an add on and dabble in it while realising it’s not the core of the club and, as you said, we know it’s neither representative of the membership as a whole nor of life on site.
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We CTers really are quite a disparate lot, that is obvious. Another thing that is also obvious is the many more campervanners and motorhomers enjoy our pastime these days compared with even a couple of decades ago. Furthermore. I guess that more of these owners have now likely to have joined the C&MC in the last couple of years.
I also reading with interest the views of us 'caravaners', be they motorised or otherwise, who contribute to CT. We fellow folk, few possibly in number, clearly just scratch the surface of the collective membership view points. However, in our contributions I reckon we just provide equally disparate views of our hobby and I'm pretty sure that our feelings do not necessarily reflect that of the 'collective'.
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Waves travel generally in sets Unless the topography disrupts/chanells the waves. Their are good & bad sets, this is subjective to the surfer, some want a gentle ride in, some want to have to fight the wave(yup, it’s as emotive as that). Sitting the board is waiting & judging the best waves/wave for-speed, power, & longevity. Sometimes sitting their on the swell just off the breakers bobbing gently absorbing the natural experience is good too👍🏻😊
scarborough, Yorkshire’s East coast.
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..but isn't this how businesses and customers exist together to constantly ensure that products match changing demand/trends?
many well known High St brands decided that they knew better than their customers what they wanted and have slipped away...
the club is a slow burner, changes (even small ones) take plenty of time.
perhaps it needs longer than most to digest what (if anything) the rise of the campervan might mean to it.
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