Late Availabilty
It would appear that the club is struggling to fill its pitches during this holiday period. There is yet another advert on Facebook about available pitches over the next week. As of tomorrow, across the 151 club sites only 41 are showing as full and 51showing Low availability, and there are none in Devon or Cornwall that fall into that bracket. For the remainder of the week very few at all are full, and then only on the occasional days. Is it because of the weather, the pitch prices or are many LV owners falling out of love with touring over here and taking their holidays abroad?
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Are the independent sites experiencing the same? I have just checked two I use for the days immediately following the bank holiday, one is full and the other has spaces. Schools are back on the 2nd, prices drop and there are spaces at the above two sites so perhaps all sites are suffering a downturn in occupancy. I put it down to the economic situation more than anything else. People seem to be prioritise their income into the essentials of life, e.g. keeping a roof over their heads.
peedee
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And yet - the CS we are currently on is full - well over-full actually - but who's counting
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The weather forecast probably put those off that book last minute. I suspect places like Devon and Cornwall tend to be destinations for longer holidays rather than a last minute weekend away. I think its very difficult to tell whether people are "falling out of love" with the hobby. Our neighbour has been a caravanner for years and has just got a new caravan so I imagine he is committed but he did say to me the other day that his son, who has also followed the family tradition, that the son's wife is not so keen. Another nearby neighbour, a young couple with kids, purchased a caravan but I think they have experienced problems with it and its only been away for one night so whether they intend to continue is hard to say. Of course we ourselves gave up this year due to mobility issues. We do miss it but I think it was the right decision as we wouldn't have used the motorhome anywhere near enough to justify keeping it. So there is a whole range of reasons why people give up. I suppose it becomes a perfect storm when suddenly an increased volume people give up for all sorts of reasons at the same time?
David
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It would appear that the club is struggling to fill its pitches during this holiday period
You say that but offer mostly no real evidence to back that up. Also what holiday period are you referring to? This last week of August?
Adverts on Facebook? Yes, also by email but I get those for a wide variety of places, car dealers, Curry’s, Canon, shops that’s I’ve bought from… now maybe they are feeling the pinch too but I also get them from my bank and building society, offers on loans, savings, credit cards and I have more difficulty believe the banks are struggling? It’s just a way of getting more business?
As you will know low means five pitches or less, the smallest site I use has 50 pitches so that means it’s 90% full. Many, most (?) club sites are bigger than that so low means anything from 95% upwards, I’ll use 95% as a rough guide? So today the club has 92 sites that are at least 95% full, how is that struggling to fill pitches? As I posted last week yesterday it had 85 pitches full and 25 lows , that’s 110 sites at 95% full, again struggling to fill pitches?
As many have posted Devon and Cornwall are out of a limb entailing a greater distance to travel and never had full sites maybe because of that.
Also you appear to be saying that full sites are the measure by which the club is doing well or not? As I’ve often posted full sites all the time is just not possible?
Holiday period? If you're talking about this coming week while schools are still off on their last week many parents are not. From countless discussion when I was at work the vast majority of holidays were taken in the first three weeks, not the last, especially for home holidays. The weather isn’t as good and getting dark earlier in the evenings.
For the remainder of the week very few at all are full, and then only on the occasional days.
Well I’ve covered the full aspect already but if a site isn’t full or low why are you assuming it’s not doing well or struggling to fill it’s pitches? The sites could be 80% full, 70%, 50%, now I have no way of proving that but equally you have no way of disproving that, so looking at being able to book (not full or low) is not necessarily indicative of struggling to fill pitches especially as you’re only looking at one week?
From personal experience when working we used to have the first two and half weeks so then come home then the Friday before Bank holiday for ten days. I always noticed sites were full(ish) over the BH weekend then most went home on the Monday, for work reason I suspect and getting kids ready for school? So this coming week has always appeared to me as a dead week on the many sites we used. But it picked up again on the Sunday when we were leaving with the retired or non-kid couples arriving.
As to weather I’ve never really thought that played a part in caravan/MH holidays? Maybe when you could cancel within three days but not now. British weather just cannot be predicted, one books and hopes for the best while packing the waterproofs and warm jackets.
As to your last sentence are you talking about in general or this week? And for club sites or all others too?
The financial prices in other areas probably have impacted certain club sites, but I’m struggling to get a decent time away in the first two weeks of September on the five or six sites I want although that is on SP I admit.
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Devon and Cornwall Club Sites were very busy when we used to go. We had to start booking Marazion a year in advance, until we swopped to using a CL.
I don’t buy into D&C not being busy, certainly during the School Summer holidays, it’s always busy. Last time we were there, 2021, we had never seen anything like it in the West Penwith area, crowds like we had never seen before. BBC has a story running about the M5 likely to be super busy this weekend, possibly a lot of day trippers as well, but very busy. We have around 20 family members down there at the moment. Lots of sites to choose from of course, and lots of alternative accommodation, not just folks camping. September is usually busy with a different demographic as well.
Just checked availability for next three weeks at D&C sites, starting BH Monday. Not a single site full, only one, Godrevy is showing LA over one weekend. That’s an awful lot of unsold pitches in the UK’s prime beach location. On the plus side, if you want Club Sites, there’s no need to book and use the deposit system, unless you want a specific pitch type.
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I'm starting to doubt myself and/or think people can see more from the booking screens in terms of actual numbers on site than I can.
Low mean five pitches or less so in many cases that means it will only go onto low when 95% of the site is full. I'm not sure what the lowest pitch site is but 50 pitches is my lowest, so there it goes low at 90% full
So just because a site comes up as being able to book (not low or full) how can people tell that there's a significant or awful lot of pitches going empty in that site or area? There seem to be a connection with some posters that not full or low and the club struggling to fill pitches? That could or could not be the case but nobody has any way of knowing (unless they are there in all sites).
Godvery and Tremable has 120 pitches, it would need 115 pitches to show low. How do people know there isn't 114? or 100 or 80? or 70, 60? All of those at this time of year and week would be quite good in my view? I have no idea of numbers it's just that I don't go straight to struggling to fill pitches mode.
I find it puzzling that some think only full or LA is a good sign and anything else is an almost empty site. Also what are neighboring comparable sites doing?
Of course I would bet a that any empty pitches are probably grass ones but that's another story.
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Judging by the number of LVs and cars bearing Grockle boxes and surfboards heading east today, it’s clear a lot of folk are heading home this weekend. I would, therefore, expect to see the whole leisure industry slowing down a bit now pending the arrival of the lucky retired folk.
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On a lighter note the young couple I mentioned up thread who don't seem to have used their van much are actually in the process of packing up and going to a site in the Cotswold. Its only an hour away but unlike a Club site they don't have to rush to get there before 5.00am!
On the question of occupancy I am never quite sure why there is an expectation that Club sites should be 100% full all the time, or even 90% full. If they were I expect the prices would be even higher.
David
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There seem to be a connection with some posters that not full or low and the club struggling to fill pitches? That could or could not be the case but nobody has any way of knowing (unless they are there in all sites).
The following quote is from a recent review from Godrevy site, one of the sites you mention.
I had plenty of space although I couldnot put my car in the correct place due to both mine and the neighbours pitching however because the site was almost empty this wasn't an issue.
I tend to look at reviews CS. Probably the way some other people check how things are at sites. I find it helpful for CL sites as well.
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So do I but not for if a site is empty or not and in any case as the review is just for that day or stay and meaningless overall. Sorry but that quote proves not a lot other than it was empty at that time?
I used Godrvery as an example that had 120 pitches, anything less than 115 shows book. In any case no wonder it might not be well used well it's all grass.
But I'm just reporting back what is on this thread, and a good few others a number of times, that its full, low or straight to struggling to fill pitches or sites are not being well used. Including the OP which looked at all sites in the network and went straight to that.
It could be the case but then again the site could be 94% full. My point is no one knows the real numbers on site.
I'm not sure why D&C is being proposed as the barometer for club sites doing well. It's out on a limb and a far way for most members (I don't know the members numbers for each area but just guessing) so most would choose a more inland or easier to get to site.
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+1 on your last paragraph
5am?
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Nellie mentioned D&C, and it’s a reasonable assumption given that a good few research stats mention D&C being in the top four destination choices for Summer holidays, on a regular basis, that it’s going to be busy in SW. I think that’s where the D&C mention comes in. Not been for a while, but it was always busy during the 20 unbroken years we went down, hence we stopped going in Summer holidays and straddled June/ July for 4 weeks instead, home, then back down again in September. Too busy for us peak holiday weeks.
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Sorry to reply to you again but I've looked at Godrevy and it's looks well used contrary to your post, not this week but to mid September, 4 lows and 3 fulls on grass with awning, almost full on grass without awning for the whole of the month,
But the bests results are for SP, they are full the rest of August and 19 days full and the rest lows for September and then low till mid october. Is there about 15 of them?
So it might be said that the way to get a site better used is to put SP on it? Still grass though so wouldn't get my custom.
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