By William Coleman
Unless you have been off grid in your caravan with no access to current affairs I am sure you’ve heard the sad news that the former holiday giant Thomas Cook are no more. Will the world of caravans, motorhomes and staycations benefit now that the holiday titan is no more?
It is never nice when a large company with thousands of employees goes under, especially one that has been in operation since 1841. Over the last 178 years this UK brand has been jetting people off on their holidays all over the world. Now that this has gone I foresee these lost holiday makers make the jump to caravan and motorhome holidays.
Following this collapse there were 150,000 UK residents stuck abroad without a way of getting and and tens of thousands and customers who now do not have anywhere to go on their holidays, not to mention possibly losing some cash they may struggle to recover. So what do they do now? They turn to an alternative holiday solution that will provide just as much fun with a lot more freedom.
With so many travellers being left out of pocket, and scorned, there will be a group who will sour towards the idea of using a travel agents and airlines for their leisure time. Not to mention the huge price difference between a caravan break and an overseas family trip.
Now that there are tens of thousands of people with holiday time booked and paid for with no destination the caravan world is one step that all these holiday makers can take.
This could potentially introduce a lot of new people to the industry who will see just how much fun you can have by staying home for your holidays. With this comes new leisure vehicles buyers and repeat customers year in year out.
With the influx of all these new UK based tourists the economy of local holidays towns, campsite and other popular getaway locations should see a real boost.
I do not believe that overnight we are going to see thousands of families flock to dealerships and start investing heavily in a new motorhome, caravan or campers. But what I do think will happen slowly is a lot of people renting motorhomes and caravans for a weekend or extended stay.
The price for a 4 person family holiday, without spending money, can cost anywhere from £3-5k for just flights and hotel. Now imagine using a glamping yurt from the Caravan and Motorhome Club or Camplify and you will, without much effort, save a ton on your family trip.
From this I do think that eventually we will see families making the decision to buy a caravan of their own so they can take holidays more than just once or twice a year. With a leisure vehicle of your own every weekend can become a holiday.
We are already seeing the leisure industry is already reacting, charitably, to the news of Thomas Cook’s collapse by offering free stays to those who have been negatively.
One such company offering this is Filey Bay Caravans, whose owner has also been left at a loose end by this recent Thomas Cook closure.
Richard Brown, who owns Filey Bay Caravans, had a family trip to Florida which is now not worth the paper it was printed on.
Knowing how so many other people feel he put his heart on his sleeve and decided to help out those who are in the same boat as him.
Speaking with www.scarsboroughnews.co.uk Richard said: “We’re in the same boat – we were due to fly out to Florida in a week’s time – holiday of a lifetime sort of thing.
“It’s just a sad, sad situation.
“I was on a bit of a downer after the news broke and I thought if I could offer a few families a holiday it might cheer a few people up.”
Taking a family on a trip like this is not a small endeavour and Richard had spent £8,000 on the planned trip to Florida. This is not a small amount of money and he could be waiting for a very long time to get that back so he felt compelled to help.
So not only is the leisure industry reacting it is actually reaching out to help those in need. Have you or anyone else you know lost a holiday due to this collapse?
