Just as you’d expect during the spring weather and the continuing surge in popularity of the staycation, the UK media is full of caravan news and holiday trends.
Here we take a look behind some of the headlines.
Vehicle charging on UK Caravan and Motorhome Club campsites
The Caravan and Motorhome Club is serious about keeping abreast of the times by facilitating the charging of electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrids on its caravan sites.
In a press release on the 6th of April, the Club explained how it is rationalising its charging structure for such facilities with effect from the 5th of April. A single, flat-rate charge of £9 will be made whenever you plug in an EV or hybrid vehicle for top-up charging overnight.
The Club asks users to be reasonable in their use of charging facilities.
Caravan site could be built near popular Somerset golf course
The owners of Henstridge Golf and Leisure in the Blackmore Vale of South Somerset have applied to the local authority for permission to site up to 45 static caravans adjacent to the golf course, according to Somerset Live on the 27th of April.
This follows the permission that was granted in February 2018 for up to 60 touring caravans on the site.
While the owners believe that the current application will have no visual or traffic impact on the area – since the site is already visible from public roads – the local authority may have its doubts about allowing caravans to remain permanently on the site and will make its formal decision in the near future.
WFH = Working from Anywhere, ‘workations’ and ‘bleisure’ trends for new work-life balance
The changing work and lifestyles post-pandemic have ushered in a new vocabulary of terms to describe the looser, more laid back choices available thanks to remote working, explains caravan, motorhome, and leisure home manufacturers the Swift Group in a press release on the 27th of April.
Instead of a daily commute to the office, many people are buying new or second-hand caravans or motorhomes to take to the road and vary the scenery as an alternative to strictly working from home.
Instead, remote workers can today choose to “work from anywhere” and, with their own home office in tow or already onsite, choose “workations” or a spot of “bleisure”.
Little wonder that sales of touring caravans have rocketed – with 23.5% (a total of 17,639) more models sold in 2021 compared with 2020; 12% (14,074) more motorhomes; and 38% (19,624) static caravans.
North Wales caravan park is bought by holiday group
On the 26th of April, North Wales Live reported an impressive expansion in the family business owned by caravan resort operators SF Parks in the north of the principality.
The family – which already owns three caravan parks in North Wales – has now acquired Sun Valley Caravan Park, Rhuddlan near Rhyl, which currently has 185 holiday homes and offers amenities including a family-friendly clubhouse, fishing lake, and bars on a site extending over 10.8 acres.
This latest acquisition is expected to increase SF Parks’ total static caravan capacity from 1,000 to 1,200 units.
Plans for new 108 static caravan site on Lincolnshire coast near Skegness
The Leicester Mercury on the 24th of April also carried a story about static caravan holidays.
In this instance, the news headlined plans for a completely new static caravan park – with a capacity for 108 holiday homes – on land in the village of Hogsthorpe, near the seaside resort of Skegness, on the Lincolnshire coast.
Tipped as a potential blessing for tourism in an otherwise economically challenged part of the country, East Lindsey District Council, which is currently considering the planning application has already received a number of objections from residents disgruntled about such holiday development neighbouring their homes.