Price Shock

I have read these reports too. Some from regular posters on CT.

It is not in the interest of  members for volunteer inspectors to advise CL owners to increase prices, so if this is indeed happening, that is not good.

There are still reasonably priced CLs out there, even near York, we have booked one for a week in April, serviced hard standing, £22 per night I think, OH makes our bookings, but it is not of course as convenient for a MH owner as being close to the city centre.

YRP seems to be showing Full or Low Availability for most of April so clearly enough people think the price represents good value....

Why would the club charge less.....?

I’m sure those volunteer inspectors will engage in all sorts of current tourism related chats with owners. I see no reason why pricing and related costs should be excluded from these ‘friendly’ discussions. It’s in the interests of concerned to consider all implications and issues effecting the business. That’s what businesses do.
Many of us it seems are willing to pay higher prices for the convenience of being in those places which most likely incur higher running costs. City centres are notoriously expensive places to live or run businesses in. 

Friendly chats are fine, but suggesting higher prices to CLs smacks of trying to make Club sites seem less pricey IMO.    
I have  seen some CLs asking for £30 per night, and not offering other than EHU.  I  do wonder how much business they get.

Are there many CLs in expensive city areas?

As long as people are prepared to pay the prices they will charge them

Could it not be that a conversation along the lines of "Your site is very good and I reckon you could ask another £5 per night like the others in this area" is actually looking after the interests of the CL owner?

I think you see conspiracies and ulterior motives where they probably don’t exist.

These volunteer inspectors are probably the only face to face communication CL's get with the Club. Whilst the Club have clearly said that they don't recommend prices it would be foolish to think that subject of prices is not discussed on these occasions. The trouble is that automatically people think the Club is trying to influence prices when the reality is that these conversations are probably seeking general advice. So if I was a CL Inspector how should I react if the CL owners says to me that he is struggling with the fees he is charging. Surely the Inspector would ask have you considered putting your prices up? He could throw into the mix the fact that nearby CL's are charging XYZ for the same facilities so the owner has a ball park figure to consider. What would be wrong would be for the inspector to suggest they put their prices up without any prompt from the owner. I suspect those charging £25/30 a night, especially if they are offering everything a larger campsite would, without the benefit of scale, have done the maths and worked out how much they need to charge to not only recoup the investment but also make a reasonable profit. 

David

There seems to be a slight suggestion that some sort of pressure is placed on CL owners to make club site more attractive. That seems like a conspiracy to me and I cannot believe for one moment that would happen. I’m sure the CL owners would see right through such a covert attempt to ‘rig’ prices against their interests.

Back on the original theme, yes, Club sites offer great facilities and the location of Rowntree is exceptional and, yes, I can afford it but that wasn’t the point. Two years ago Rowntree was fully booked, now it has space available. Two years ago we stayed in Honfleur at 18 Euros a night (it’s probably a bit more now). Walking distance from town, hedged pitches with tap and waste, heated sanitation blocks with hair dryers. The Clubs business model is all wrong and it will cease operating if it doesn’t change.

I didn’t realise Honfleur was convenient for visiting York 🤔. 

You are making the classic mistake of not comparing like with like, HG.