Caravan Club takes 55,000 pitch bookings for 2014 in pre-Christmas rush

by Chris Jefferies
We’ve all got our own pre-Christmas traditions, from hanging up stockings to opening advent calendars and The Caravan Club has one of its own.
Each year, the Club opens bookings for the 2014 season in the first week of December and this year has been no different, with 55,000 pitches reserved in the first day alone.
The floodgates opened at 9am yesterday (4 December) sparking one of the busiest days of the year for the Club website, with an average of more than one booking processed per second.
Yorkshire was one of the most popular regions, with the spike in demand put down to caravanners wanting to see Bradley Wiggins and co race by during the UK leg of the Tour De France.
Beverley Larrion from The Caravan Club said: “The Hawes, Wharfdale, York Rowntree Park and York Beechwood Grange were booked up quickly in view of the Tour de France taking place nearby in July next year.”
Elsewhere, Chatsworth Park and Baltic Wharf continued to stand out as some of the most popular sites for early bookings.
And while the total of 55,000 bookings processed is slightly down on last year’s total of 60,000, Beverley remains upbeat.
“Recent trends have shown that people are booking later and later, so to achieve the amount we did, this far in advance is testament to the staying power, longevity and popularity of this leisure pastime,” she added.
Digital age
This surge in online bookings comes as a major fillip to the Club, after a major redesign of its website earlier this year.
“Whilst the upgrades that were made had no impact on the booking system, the new website has been favourably received by members and we’ve received some very positive comments,” Beverley continued.
To those who may have missed out on their favourite spot, she explained: “It’s like booking for a Robbie Williams concert, not everyone will get the tickets they want.
“Even if we were able to process triple the amount of bookings per second, we still would not have been able to meet that immediate demand, popular sites and dates would have sold out even more quickly if we had.”
So if you want to secure your favourite spot for a peak season 2014 holiday, head over to the Caravan Club website before someone else nabs it.