Tier 2 CLs Re-Opening 2nd December

Posted on 04/12/2020 23:03 by Wherenext

I never said they fees didn't have to increase. You'll have a hard job finding a quote from me along those lines. What still applies now as it did years ago is value for money. 

Am I happy paying £14 per night for a muddy grass field with a potholed entrance road, a filthy Elsan point, with the owners dog doing its business on the CL area? No I'm not. 

Will I pay £20 for the site nearby that has hardstanding serviced pitch and is clean and tidy. Yes I would and I have.

I do understand the econmics but when you have a poor product that you are having a hard job of selling to your customer base and increase your price by a double digit percentage then that isn't clever. 

We've all seen new CLs open up and charge way above what the market will accept and either close fairly soon after or reduce their price.

Nothing in my post should be taken as posts against those CL owners own sites. I am speaking generally.

Posted on 04/12/2020 23:09 by Wherenext

No I am not Rocky! I'm not interested in being pedantic. You are completely wrong about that. But obviously you will not think otherwise. 

Read my posts. As I have said I have no problems with owners getting a fair price be it at £12 or 20+ per night.

 

Posted on 04/12/2020 22:19 by Wherenext

There are only two things i can think of the sites have done that have made life better for users 

JVB there are many other "things" sites have done to improve life for the user,

such as installing hard standing 

such as installing toilets and/or showers 

such as providing free wifi 

such as making each pitch a fully or partially serviced pitch 

such as having fully automated booking service on websites that some have set up together with Social Media accounts

And yes some are still the same as they ever were. That's the beauty of CLs, the Variety of them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted on 04/12/2020 21:57 by Tinwheeler

I guess I'm one of the 'old guard', JV, but I live in the present and see no point in looking back. We are where we are with present day situations and values. Look to the future, I say, and protect our CLs because we need as many as we can get in view of the difficulty in finding pitches.

Posted on 05/12/2020 08:57 by cyberyacht

With the enhancements listed above, a CL owner would probably need to charge £20 and would be justified doing so for such a product. However, if the vast majority of CLs follow this strategy, those on a limited budget are increasingly restricted in their choice of CL or must reduce their travelling.

Before anyone comes back with the argument about expensive tow cars/caravans/motorhomes, a not insignificant number of the membership are using older LVs. Whilst this is a bit of a generalisation, in my experience, these are the ones that use CLs and the shiny big rigs are the ones that frequent club sites.

Posted on 05/12/2020 08:57 by cyberyacht

With the enhancements listed above, a CL owner would probably need to charge £20 and would be justified doing so for such a product. However, if the vast majority of CLs follow this strategy, those on a limited budget are increasingly restricted in their choice of CL or must reduce their travelling.

Before anyone comes back with the argument about expensive tow cars/caravans/motorhomes, a not insignificant number of the membership are using older LVs. Whilst this is a bit of a generalisation, in my experience, these are the ones that use CLs and the shiny big rigs are the ones that frequent club sites.

Posted on 05/12/2020 09:58 by DavidKlyne

Personally I feel that a charge per night of £15/20 for a CL with reasonable facilities like hardstandings, electrics as a minimum is perfectly acceptable. I can't see that charging less than that makes economic sense. The more "modern" CL's, many of which are featured on this forum, put a great deal of effort into their CL's. 

I am not sure that this hobby can be achieved on a shoestring any longer. The exception might be to rally. Inflation wise a CL that cost £10 a night in 2000 should now cost £17 a night and that is before any enhancements that may have been made to the site in the intervening years. The £5 CL in 1980 would now cost nearly £22. The price of any commodity is usually as much as the market will accept and it is not as though we have an increasing number of CL's to provide extra competition. We will all come to the conclusion at some stage that either infirmity or cost, sometimes both, will herald the end of us partaking in this hobby. I imagine some might  have a blind spot on this reality?

Posted on 05/12/2020 12:10 by

 Whilst I agree with most of your post especially if CLs are equipped as mini camp sites  I don't remember £5 a night CLs in 1980. To the best of my memory I was paying about £2 (£8.64 now) for the most basic "corner of a field". We never had EHU as the van wasn't equipped and I don't recall seeing it as an option ..

Posted on 05/12/2020 13:13 by DavidKlyne

My caravanning only goes back to 1982! The £5 was just plucked out the air to give an inflation comparison. Going by your £2 a night which is now around £9 in round figures I expect many non facility CL's are still around that price, maybe £10? We did use a few local CL's back when we first started but for the life of me I can't remember the cost but maybe nearer your figure than a fiver? I have just checked a site we stayed at Stoke Bruerne years ago. It has no facilities other than water and waste. Does claim to have hardstanding but wonder if that is on the end of a site road? That is £10 a night. Well worth it given the location, almost next to a pub and an easy walk of the Canal Museum. I don't think it would be overpriced at £12 a night.

David