Club site awards

Hi Tinwheeler

As far as we are aware we have evaded nothing but just posted our question which by the way has had some response?

If however you feel after reading the clubs post about being the largest forum in Europe with some 500 thousand post that our club shouldn't be heading for newer heights then as we have stated before this is your opinion but still feel many may agree and disagree but that is up to them to post.

But again thank you for your valued input

As far as I can see from reading the information on the AA best campsite awards   <<HERE>>

The AA awards are given to the best campsites each year from those which are  listed in their guide. Again, as far as I know, club sites don't feature in the AA guide at all, therefore none would qualify for any AA awards.

Hi Justus2

Thanks for that but again would ask why don't we have any listing in their guide then?what stops the club inviting them in to judge our sites next year? Practical Caravan carries out yearly awards based on camping sites throughout the UK and readers put forward the ones they think are the best! This year 2018 out of 100 top sites only 1 was a Caravan & Motorhome site! Not exactly what we would expect from a club that states its the biggest? If we are the biggest should we not then have the best?

But thank you for your post

Gateway, Sites have to pay the AA to be in their guide as far as I know. The club doesn't need to advertise itself externally as it relies, and is sustained by members who are fully aware of the club's sites. Furthermore, these sites are usually very busy in any case without any awards.

Helps what? Your quest for info about awards? 

That links to info 4 years old so us hardly current and Club Together is much more than just the forum. It is capable of reaching 230000 members but that’s not the same as having 230000 members taking part.

Thankyou sooo much for helping me catch up. 🙄

Hi Justus2

Thanks for that info, but isn't that just the point we think we are the best but because we chose not to be judged by independent bodies does this mean we are the best?

Whereas other sites which have been judged and come out on top surely have the upper hand on appeal and bookings as they are getting better exposure having obtained such awards?

But again still want to state what have we got to hide by not opening up the club for closer inspections it must make for a better club all round surely? or are we worried we just wouldn't even make today's grades in camping and facilities as some of our sites do require a little updating which perhaps you may agree or not?

But thank you for that and perhaps our club could afford as we are the biggest to enter us in to the AA for 2019 judging?

I’ve just come back from a tour of Scotland and as part of our travels we stayed on two former winners of the AA award. One I may return to and the other I definitely wouldn’t go near again. 

So I’m not sure that I’d personally attach much value to the AA awards. 

We've also stayed at one of the practical caravan regional winners and whilst it was a really good site I’m less appreciative of the emails I’ve received in following years asking us to vote for them again. 

I personally see these awards as backslapping exercises of little value. I attach far more value to reviews on sites like ukcampsite and increasingly tripadvisor. 

We did stay at 2 club sites out of the 6 we used and whilst I’d not vote for them being the best they definitely weren’t the worst. I think the value of club sites is their predictable nature. A reasonably safe bet in an unknown area. 

I know many caravanners who are members of the Club only use Club sites as they are aware of the quality of the sites that are provided.  I suspect that those who are not members are more likely to look at other means to find sites of 'quality', hence they look for sites who have 'awards'.  Awards do tend to be more important to non-club sites as they have no large database of members to use as 'publicity'.  This is a contributory factor as to why private sites tend to show an active interest in awards, often promoting and encouraging visitors to vote, even by giving out 'voting cards'.  The Club has no real need to get involved in this as it has it's own membership base.

Some of the 'awards', however, are not always determined by voting - they are determined by inspection - e.g. the AA pennant system.  Again, the Club has it's own inspection process.  There are also standards which the Club maintain which are not reflected in the pennant system.

There are many different ways to find out about sites and to find a suitable site for our needs.  These involve individual reports e.g. the reports on here and on such sites as UKCampsite.co.uk and elsewhere.

I think there is one major problem with the 'pennant' system.  If a caravanner goes to one site with (say) 3 pennants, and has a bad experience, he/She is very likely to equate other sites with the same pennant in the same way.  Sadly, that is not always the case - things go up and down on a regular basis:  the unkind person who leaves the toilet/block in a mess and it is spotted by another member before site staff have had time to attend;  the lady in reception who is having a bad day; the electrical /water /drainage problem that effects the site because the workmen a couple of streets away have dug up the amenities etc.

I think these are all reasons why the Club does not actively get involved in awards/pennants.  .....it could however be far simpler! Perhaps no-one has nominated any of the sites... 😂

I don't think we are achieving an aweful lot by prolonging this discussion, and indeed we have caused a little discontent, so I will close this thread for the time being and refer it directly to the Community Manager who may be able to answer the original post more directly, or maybe decide to reopen the post for further discussion.

Thank you all for contributing.

David

Many thanks for everyone’s contributions to this discussion. I have forwarded the discussion to my colleagues regarding awards and will post a response from the Club.

It’s also worth noting that many Club Sites have achieved the ‘Certificate of Excellence Award’ from TripAdvisor which is based on reviews and ratings from people who have stayed on the site so hopefully this gives a true reflection of the quality of our Club Sites.

I will reopen the discussion once I have a reply regarding other awards and appreciate people trying to keep discussions constructive and friendly as we want Club Together to be a useful resource and a welcoming place to be. Many thanks.