Worried for the club (price rises}

Could be prices or equally it could be the new T&C with deposits, which have certainly in my view made pitches available at shorter notice, or maybe a bit of both, who knows? 

But what's to worry about or be sorry about. More pitches now available.

And we're always told better and cheaper sites out there anyway?

Chatsworth is one of our favourite sites, but I’m afraid the club is now charging far too much. The site itself is tired and not much to write home about, but of course you have access to the wonderful parkland. Right now for handstanding with awning & hookup for 2 people, £52, full service pitch is £59.

I stayed at lakeside full service pitches in very nice independent sites with free Wi-Fi (and it worked - we could even stream Netflix) for £32 a night. I’ve just booked  a week away in 2 adult only independent sites with great facilities for around £31 a night, with onsite shops and lakeside views and free Wi-Fi. 

I’m afraid the club need to really think hard about their pricing. It does not feel like a club being run for our benefit any more. I’ve recently been on 2 CLs for £13 and £15 a night. 

Kaanie,   My evidence is only from friends, neighbours and extended family, but a very varied group. 

Some are worried about money right now - inflation, rents and mortgages and food and fuel costs. The price of Club pitches is totally irrelevant as they can’t afford to buy a caravan in the first place - let alone insure it, service it and store it. They have switched to the cheaper supermarkets and are not having a holiday of any sort this year. 

But some others are very comfortably off and are cramming the airports and the ferries. Just in the group I mentioned there are people who are visiting Austria, Montenegro, Spain, France, Thailand, Turkey and Mexico. So the price of Club pitches is totally irrelevant to them too. They don’t go caravanning at all. 

I don’t think either group are affected by the price of a pitch on a caravan site and I can’t see it changing.- so I’m not surprised Caravan sites have vacancies.

Interesting article about Which magazine research into how population of UK is coping with the cost of living crisis……

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/jul/29/britons-fall-into-six-cost-of-living-groups-report-finds-which-magazine

Outfit ownership, and Club fees are a far away dream for most folks I guess. 

Yet Chatsworth is full on SP and SSP for half the month of August, the rest are all lows, and you won't get a weekend till mid October on HS with awning pitch (more choice on non awning but even then no weekends till mid August and lows after that) so is the club really charging too much for SP and HS with awning there?

Why worried? It is very very simple. If you don’t like the price take your business elsewhere. 

 As I've reported elsewhere, we were at the NYM site last week and whilst it would be an exaggeration to say it was empty - it wasn't far off.  I doubt it was even 25% full.  We were there for exactly the same week last year and we got one of the last two or three available pitches. Talking to the Warden, he blamed the new booking system - and the weather must have played a part as well - 34 degrees last year and this year, whilst warm - it never seemed to stop raining!

However, looking at my records - two years ago, it was £18.54pn - last year £20 - but this year it had increased to £27 pn - for a no-facilities site. Even allowing for increased utility costs and wages, something doesn't quite stack up.

Is the club's strategy to price out caravans / motorhomes and create more glamping sites?

I think Chatsworth is a bit of an anomaly. Many people want to visit the site for where it is and now that many are aware that it is closing they will pay for the experience, whatever that price is, before it shuts. 

This year we have used only one club site and that was just a single overnight stop on the way to a CL further south. It cost us £22.40 for no facilities (Cadeside). whereas the CL at £25.00 per night had serviced pitches, unmetered electric included, free and very good wifi,  and an excellent wet-room with shower, washbasin and toilet. 

No CLs that we have been to this year have been more than £25.00 per night including electric. Two had metered electric but we still came within the daily included allowance.

If you go back to before the new booking system was in place there was thread after thread on this forum complaining about lack of availability, either sites were fully booked or people couldn't book a complete week. So now people are complaining about too much availability! We will all remember the posts from people arriving on site, which had previously shown as fully booked, only to find lots of vacant pitches. Perhaps the new booking system has separated out the wheat from the chaff in terms preventing people booking speculatively, or perhaps discouraging people from cancelling at the last moment. There could be lots of reasons why there appears to be a lack of occupancy on some sites. Clearly the new booking system has concentrated the mind by requiring a deposit. Lots more people are now going back to taking holidays in Europe when in the last couple of years that has not been so easy due to the pandemic. Of course, there is also a cost of living crisis which will impact on some more than others. There are always cheaper alternatives out there. What puzzles me is that surely those cheaper alternatives have always been available and yet people are only now seeking them out?

David

Perhaps folk are only now seeking out cheaper alternatives because they have never before experienced CAMC site fees at this level coupled with the economic stresses of day to day living?