Can anybody give me a reasonable, no bulldust, fair dinkum reason for Caravan parks to raise their fee for the school holidays. Does their council increase their rates during holidays, no, does their electricity cost increase, no, do they have to pay their staff extra again no.
So what gives. We are in a park where it went up $5 per night "because it's school holidays. So bloody what !! The place is 80%empty!!
Seems to me it's a great chance to rip off the very people who give them their living.
market forces and free enterprise, dont have to pay the increase, move on. Seems to me most grey nomads have never run a business or have forgotten. OP is right the cst dont go up but maybe the little extra they get in these periods is the reason its opened next year
cheers
blaze
I think you will find if you look in the past this has been normal in all areas of accomodation in school holidays and public holidays but a very interesting thing I noted just recently when looking at CP'S for my trip to Longreach in july that where we down south have our peak season in summer if you head up north they have their peak season in winter and they cost more then, those damm grey nomads going north to escape the cold are responsible for it, so its all about capturing the market at its best the basis of economics,I guess they will say it helps maintain a more even income stream and helps level out the good and bad times
Know exactly where you are coming from and feel Tamey. Unfortunately it is one of those unwanted facts of the business life.
Not only school Holidays. A lot of "Touristy" areas will have a reasonably good price during the week but come Friday and Saturday nights, up goes the price. It's cashing in on the tourist $$$$$$. Not good but that's how it is.
The only thing to do is go in, ask the price and if you are not happy, tell them and walk out. Tell the local Info Centre as well and maybe even the local Council. If you really want to get the word out there you have made a good start by talking about it here. Tell the press from that area maybe as well.
A lot of these places look at forums and if they are "80% empty", by reading here they might know why. It is their income though but we have a choice. Stay or move on. If I want a CVP I tend to look in smaller towns. That said I do have a favourite place in Byron Bay that do just what I have said but I am happy to pay at that time. I usually only go once a year, maybe twice and call it a treat. It's still the cheapest there for a Solo traveller.
Try not to let it get to you Tamey and enjoy travelling around this great Country but, keep Safe out there.
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Blaze, I don't recall increasing my prices during school holidays . Why should they be the exception to do so?
I didnt either but in my line of business I found other ways to even my cashflow, like eary in my business life I didnt charge km cost to a job, I eventuay fell in line with other business but charged less per km. For a business to survive you need to make a lot of dicissions that some of your customers dont agree
Blaze, I know running a business can be tough, but I have always found that the best way to stay on top is to give good service and value for money, which we are not getting in parks. There is no excuse for increasing prices because of school holidays, no matter how you look at it, it is a way of gauging more money of travellers. I know parks are not alone doing this and hotels, airlines and many other industries are all guilty of making more money "because they can". Many industries and occupations have down times, but they work hard to overcome those times to retain their client base.
If park operators give value for money and good service, they will survive without ripping us off. It's Ok to say "if you don't like the price move on" but to where- they all do it
Cheers,
Tamey
I'll play the devils advocate here. If you need x dollars to make the business viable then you need to over a year charge enough per site to get in those x dollars. 1 option is to charge more during those periods where you know you are going to be full and demand will allow you to charge that much without having vacant sites and a lower price the rest of the year when you will have vacant sites and are trying to entice people in. 2nd option is to charge somewhere between those 2 prices all year round, knowing that you will now get less in during the school holidays but may, if you don't scare off customers with the higher price, make it up by your extra charges during the rest of the year. Option 1 is the safer and preferred option for most caravan parks in prime holiday locations.
We stay home during the school vacations, hate the crowds as well as the higher prices. Of course that isn't going to work if you are full time on the road or have to travel during the school vacations because you have children or work in an occupation that only gives you time off at those times of year. Your best option in those cases is probably to head inland, away from the prime tourist locations and well away from beaches or rivers.
Can anybody give me a reasonable, no bulldust, fair dinkum reason for Caravan parks to raise their fee for the school holidays. Does their council increase their rates during holidays, no, does their electricity cost increase, no, do they have to pay their staff extra again no.
So what gives. We are in a park where it went up $5 per night "because it's school holidays. So bloody what !! The place is 80%empty!!
Seems to me it's a great chance to rip off the very people who give them their living.
Tamey
It's called supply and demand. If people are willing to pay the increase, so be it. If they did not and the park was half full the fees would drop to entice people in. On the Qld sunshine coast it is $49 for a square of ground with power.
I agree. I owned boarding kennels in a rural area for 7 years our prices never went up even for Xmas. We were booked out by the beginning of October. If you cancelled and I could not fill the space there would be a charge, never happened always filled the space. It's about morals, I never wanted it to happen to me, why would I do it to someone else. To your own self be true.
35 years I have been in business for myself. My clientel are begging me not to go.
360 days to go till I reduce to 2 days per week. I'm so sorry to my clients.
Only last week, another of my fellow colleages Kevin pulled the pin. Now there is only four of us. BUT I can only blame our government Bureaucy.( TOTAL BUNCH of DUMB SH.....its)
I look at the big picture , and see ourselve's in it,............... Out in the playground. Re: ( DOUG).
Tammy, we run short term holiday rentals & probably for a similar reasons as caravan parks, have peak rates for school holidays , long weekends & busy periods such as Xmas - these periods are our main source of income & the remaining periods which are not the peak periods that most people want to take holidays for are then priced lower to hopefully attract some income. I have been running our holiday lets for 7 years now & have tried different pricing structures, but the main guide for me is if I priced too high in either peak or non peak periods, our properties would have vacancies So far this year, we have only had 1 vacant weekend & also have many repeat clients, so that is also another good sign
There are many more costs to running these types of facilities than the ones you have mentioned. Some Holiday makers do not treat facilities the same as they would their own & maintenance & replacement costs are more than rates electricity water etc That's with us doing as much maintenance as we possibly can. Insurance is the biggest cost of all
Most would have mortgages & just want to make a reasonable living.
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Chooknphil always good to hear the other side of a story , If you are charging to much people won't come to your holiday rental is you don't charge enough you go broke and they still can't go to your holiday rental so you can't win
Called into a caravan park in a popular NSW coastal town, was late and we just needed to stop. It was the day before the end of "summer season".
How much for a powered site, I asked. $64.00 was the reply. I said no thanks, was told i wouldn't find a better price on the East coast at that time. I turned to walk away, my $40 in my hand. Wait, the lady said, I suppose because it is near the end of the season, I could let you have our "normal" price - $36!!
I said ok
, drove in and the park was only half full, with lots of families packing to go the next day. Surely, their "normal" price would be better than NO money.
Friend owns a park, and he says he could still make money charging $20, instead of the usual $28 all year round. They work in the business, and employ cleaners, use a linen service, and a rubbish collection company, to empty the big bins, and they still make a good living.
Just my two bobs worth.
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jules "Love is good for the human being!!" (Ben, aged 10)
im sure if you ask them they don't raise their prices at peak times they lower them outside these times
Yes I think most of the respondents on this thread have got it wrong. The parks, motels and other tourist places make most of their income during busy periods. They then discount their services in the off season.
The smart people don't complain, they plan their touring so they can benefit by the discounts. I also look at things this way, leave the busy period venues for those who are time to only be able to go then. This will relieve the pressure on the parks. Travelling with the discounts also means less problems with having to book way ahead and then having to stick with that plan and not being able to be flexible. Instead of winging look for value.
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PeterD Nissan Navara D23 diesel auto, Spaceland pop-top Retired radio and electronics technician. NSW Central Coast.
The time is approaching where van parks will be a memory as most are crowding the best spots with overpriced cabins which stay empty during the minor school hols break. An alternative is showgrounds if you don't want all the pools and games rooms TV lounges etc.
Most showgrounds are close to town and have power on every pole and hot showers and dunnies there are good web sites that list them all in the various states
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