Price Shock

I agree TW. York is at least 20 times the size of Honfleur, notwithstanding the the differences in country.

I think Moulesy hit the nail on the head with his per person per night breakdown. The last time we thought about visiting London we thought the pppn at Abbey Wood to be great Value for Money. Circumstances prevented that trip. As nice and as beautiful as Honfleur is there is no way that a like for like price with YRP would be VFM. Apples and Oranges.

I think you should expect to pay more for city sites. Look at the alternatives for immediate access not at where you would have to travel in.

Of course Honfleur and York are different but they are both massive tourist attractions. How can the Honfleur site do it. Well, they have fixed rental cabins and various leisure facilities, pool, restaurant etc. The business model is totally different. How do petrol stations make money - they have mini supermarkets which I believe make more money than the fuel.

The Club’s business model is to have excellent facilities with wardens who tend the site and staff the reception. They cater for a dwindling band of discriminating caravan/Motorhome users with ever reducing budgets. Is that a “going concern” as they say in business?

I agree with your generalisation but that doesn’t alter the fact that comparing Honfleur with York is not comparing like with like. York is York and as unique it its own way as Honfleur is in its. The financial structures and operating conditions in the two different countries make it impossible to pretend the two sites are comparable. As you say yourself, they are two different business models.

I assume the site in question is Camping Du Phare? I can see it as a more attractive alternative to the Camper Aire across the river. However the site only has a short opening period, end of March to the end of September. All grass pitches rather than hardstanding. Obviously can't compare facilities but are they of the same quality as Rowntree Park? Price now off peak is about £22 but if you have a couple of dogs that would increase to about £27. The trouble with trying to compare UK and French sites is that we have no idea of the cost basis on which the site operates under. The fact that Rowntree Park is open all year probably adds a lot to the running costs. How do the French tax things like campsites, I am thinking either Council Tax or Business Tax? Likewise how do they staff the site, not sure how many full time staff Rowntree Park have but its probably a minimum of 4. We know from past history of the Club Accounts that the site network does not always show an operating surplus so how quite the Club could reduce its costs to get anywhere near the French site I have no idea? 

For those able to go abroad I say take full advantage whilst you can.

David 

La briquerie. 19 euros per night off season. Arrive early!

 How do the French tax things like campsites, I am thinking either Council Tax or Business Tax?

DK..we stopped at a Municipal Site for one night a couple years ago where the owner asked for cash as he could not now afford a bank card reader. He explained the card reader charged 2% for every transaction which on top of his taxes didn't leave much change from the nightly fees...

Giving him the €15 in cash, he continued to explain by counting out the Euros per tax...one for le Maire, one for Regional tax, One for local tax, one for tourist tax...and finished by throwing his arms in the air and muttering something which we didn't quite catch but probably on a par with our thoughts on taxation..

GTP

Thanks for the insight. That sounds to me as if the campsite is charging an unrealistically low nightly fee? I just wonder if you would have been willing to pay and extra 5 euros a night for that site which might have eased the owner's financial worries? The other side of all these cheap sites in France is that clearly a lot of them are uneconomic but there seems to be an over supply of pitches so they have to try and survive as best they can. In our latter years of touring abroad we noticed sites being taken over by companies that converted them to all static accommodation. I understand that many Municipal sites have been sold off, some to be converted into motorhome only stops. Going back to cost comparisons I assume how much a campsite charges, be it in France of the UK has a large element of supply and demand about it. If there is a ready supply with restricted demand prices will be lower. Whereas in the UK, certainly at certain times a year, throughout the year, demand seems to outstrip supply so just on that basic economic question prices are bound to be higher?

David

Interesting comment in most recent Motorhome Matt podcast, he was commenting on more (motorhomes) not wanting to stay at big traditional sites and that the aire type stop was and needed to expand. More councils were beginning to understand their part in this. But he also commented that lots of sites were now just too expensive and that they were going to need to examine their cost basis.

That’s no different to what certain folk have been saying on here for years and years and years, Hja. 🤷🏻‍♂️

A lot has happened in recent years regarding over night stops for motorhomes. Can't at the moment recall the name of the group but there is a Facebook Group that suggests various pubs all over the country which seems popular. Some of them make a small charge which they will forego if you eat at the pub and others work on the basis of free over night parking if you buy a meal. Obviously if people are really intent on spending the minimum on a stop over the requirement to have a meal might too much for some? I think there are encouraging signs that some councils are making an effort to provide over night parking. It was posted on here about Bude but I suspect the £20 fee will too much for some. Campsites have a long tradition of providing a safe stopping place but that has taken years to reach the stage it is now at. It will probably be a fair while  before those that want cheap or free stopovers will be satisfied?

David