Camping, cabins, caravans and motorhomes now more popular than hotel stays – here’s why
Summer is on it’s way and as a result camping in back on everyone’s radar. Camp sites are starting to fill up and with good reason – the UK has some of the most stunning places to stay.
Since the start of the pandemic the UK has seen a huge increase in the number of families returning to the lost past-time of being at one with nature.
Tent sales, caravan bookings and even glamping are all on the increase. In part this is due to the limited travel available outside of the UK, but in part we like to feel that people are realising the beauty that is already on their doorstep.
Camping has certainly changed over the last ten to twenty years but the basic joy you get from spending a night under the stars certainly hasn’t.
Online holiday booking site, Pitchup.com, reveals growing demand for customers choosing trips that improve wellness over the jubilee weekend, nearly 122,000 holidaymakers took a Pitchup.com holiday in the UK alone.
Over the last 12 months, bookings are up by 30% in comparison to the previous year, with more holidaymakers opting for tents, cabins, caravans and motorhomes rather than hotel stays.
The pandemic has caused both mental and physical health to shoot up the agenda, so it’s no surprise that improving wellness is now even more of a motivating factor behind people’s travel choices.
The wellness benefits of stays in the countryside are no secret, and in Q1 this year Pitchup.com saw a 101% growth in room nights booked compared to 2019, where Expedia and Booking.com saw a decrease.
Spending time in the countryside is proven to improve mental health, so much so that the UK government is even trialling projects like “Green Social Prescribing”, where doctors prescribe the outdoors to improve a patient’s health and wellbeing.
Pitchup.com is also seeing more and more of its campsites and holiday parks catering specifically to this trend, with new sites like Wellness Woodlands in Shropshire and Mandala Springs Wellness Retreat Center in California being added to their platform in the last few months.
