Latest figures from Pitchup.com, the UK’s leading outdoor accommodation booking platform, reveal that arrivals at UK campsites and holiday parks this August are more than double what they were pre-pandemic.
Based on booking data from almost 580,000 campers this August alone compared to the same period in 2019*, regions including the North East and North West of England, along with North and West Wales have all increased in popularity while the South West of England retains pole position with over 30% of bookings.
While Northern Ireland still accounts for the smallest percentage of bookings made through Pitchup.com, August arrivals this year are up by the highest amount of all at over three times the level of 2019 stays. Scotland meanwhile has both moved down in the popularity stakes, likely indicating a preference for keeping travel time to a minimum and taking advantage of the significant increase in campsites across the UK by holidaying closer to home. Cornwall is the most popular county, as in 2019, and Haverfordwest the most popular town, up four places.
Looking ahead to 2022, thousands of bookings have already been made for UK and international destinations, but over 99% of bookings over the last week are for 2021 arrival, with 75% arriving in August, 21% September and 3% October – December.
Dan Yates, founder of Pitchup.com says: “The trend to book even more last minute is understandable given the huge amount of uncertainty around travel in the last 18 months. Where the outdoor sector has the edge in meeting demand is with a huge amount of accommodation that can scale up quickly – the only sector to be able to do so in fact. For example, temporary campsites operating under 56-day Permitted Development Rights can literally open up within 24 hours to offer a holiday spot for those with their own tent.”
“We’ve always known that camping and glamping holidays tend to be booked later, closer to home and for shorter stays than other kinds of holiday, and that philosophy seems set to continue for quite some time to come.”
The platform has welcomed an additional 1,379 sites over the course of this year, breaking all previous records. Ranging from established holiday parks to pop-up campsites on farms, at stately homes, pubs and sports clubs, over 4.6 million holiday nights have been spent at UK sites booked through Pitchup in the past 12 months.
It’s great news for domestic tourism says Yates: “When you think that only a 1% shift from foreign holidays to UK domestic camping and caravanning would mean a 10% growth in the market**, there’s a huge opportunity for UK campsites and the largely-rural economies that benefit from the increased spend.
“Huge numbers of Brits have taken their first-ever camping, caravan or glamping holiday over the last year – following estimates that 59% had not taken this type of holiday in the last three years*** – and were delighted by what they found. With Pitchup sites receiving an average review score of 9 out of 10, every sign is that they fully intend to return, particularly in view of hefty investments in motorhomes, campervans and camping equipment they can use on UK breaks well into next year and beyond.”
The outdoor accommodation arena has strongly resisted the influence of extensive and controversial price hikes in other sectors of the travel industry as data from Pitchup.com shows. Booking data for prices per person, per night from 1st – 19th August 2021 vs 1st – 19th August 2019 shows a marginal price increase of 7% averaged across the three categories of accommodation available on the website.
Notes
*Pitchup booking data for arrivals during period 1st – 19th August 2021 vs 1st – 19th August 2019
** in 2019, Brits spent 512m nights on holidays abroad and 198m in the UK, of which 55m were spent in caravans, tents, glamping and motorhomes (source: IPS (National Statistics), GBTS (VisitBritain))
***Camping & Caravanning, July 2021 (Mintel)
Regions ranked August 2021 vs August 2019 based on number of bookings:
| Rank | 2021 | 2019 | Change for 2020 |
| 1 | South West England | South West England | = |
| 2 | Central England | Central England | = |
| 3 | North East England | South East England | -1 |
| 4 | North West England | North East England | +1 |
| 5 | South East England | North West England | -2 |
| 6 | North Wales | Scotland | +1 |
| 7 | West Wales | North Wales | +1 |
| 8 | Scotland | West Wales | -2 |
| 9 | East Anglia | East Anglia | = |
| 10 | Mid Wales | Mid Wales | = |
| 11 | South Wales | South Wales | = |
| 12 | Northern Ireland | Northern Ireland | = |
