The end of holiday camps?

Britain’s holiday camps are seeing a revival of their popularity, and are set to bring in more than a billion pounds annually, new figures suggest.

Part of the resurgence of the centres is due to families making alternative and less-costly choices for their annual holiday break. A record 6.5 million people are now choosing holiday camps each year, according to a study released by industry analysts.

The camps have had to rework their image, though, from the days of the leaky chalets seen on the BBC sitcom Hi De Hi, set in the 1950s.

Over the last five years, the number of holidaymakers choosing camps such as Butlins and Center Parcs has increased in number by nearly 500,000 annually, a rise of eight per cent. At the same time, spending on these destinations has increased to £1.3 billion, up 22 per cent, according to analysts at Mintel.

What the figures suggest is that the holiday camps are attracting more holidaymakers and bigger spenders as well – a major difference from the days when a week at a holiday camp was clearly a low-budget break.

Holiday centres feature on-site restaurants and entertainment venues, as well as children’s clubs and numerous other facilities, and are now attracting many travellers who had previously been taking their family holidays abroad.

The revival in holiday camps started a couple of years ago, as air duty increased, airlines started to fail and the pound dropped against the euro.

www.mintel.com


HT: Dave Smith/asap.co.uk