Northampton caravan park set to play host to popular balloon festival

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A Northamptonshire caravan park will again play host to one of Europe’s most popular hot air balloon festivals this summer, it has been announced.

The Northampton Balloon Festival has been held in the town for more than 20 years, attracting large crowds and enthusiasts from all over the world.

However, over recent weeks, speculation has been mounting over the likelihood of this year’s event going ahead, with the cost of £250,000 believed to be unfeasible now that it no longer has the backing of the local borough council.

But it has now been confirmed that the festival will be going ahead, in spite of the financial concerns, with the Billing Aquadrome holiday park and camping and caravan site to be the host once again, the BBC has reported.

At present, however, exact dates of the popular summer family event have not been confirmed.

Billing Aquadrome boasts some 400 electrical hook-up points for touring caravans, while it also plays host to the annual Spirit of the Horse show and the world’s largest Land Rover rally.

Bailey Caravans enjoy record year, thanks to popular Pegasus range

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The massive popularity of its new Pegasus range helped Bailey Caravans enjoy a record year for sales in 2009, it has been announced.

Reporting news of its performance over the past 12 months, the company has revealed that the Bailey Retailer Network sold just over 9,500 new caravans over the course of last year, a record high achieved in spite of the tough economic climate.

Notably, of these, 65 per cent were caravans from the ground-breaking Pegasus range launched towards the beginning of the year, making these models among the most popular on UK roads and at campsites across Europe.

At the same time, however, Bailey has confirmed that it has discontinued its Senator Series with immediate effect.

“[The success of the Pegasus range] has been to the detriment of the performance of Senator Series 6 – to the extent that this established range no longer generates enough orders to justify its continued inclusion within the portfolio,” a company statement read.

Bailey will, however, continue to carry on with its after-sales and replacement part service for caravanners with any of the Senator models.

Bristol-based Bailey celebrated its diamond anniversary in 2008, making it the longest-established UK caravan manufacturer.

Caravan owners to be given towing tips at NEC show

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Caravan owners are to be offered taster courses in manoeuvring their trailers at the upcoming NEC Boat and Caravan Show, it has been announced.

Due to take place in the last week of February, the annual event will once again see thousands of caravanning enthusiasts head to Birmingham to view the latest models and learn of the latest tourist hotspots, both in the UK and overseas.

What’s more, it has now been confirmed that the Caravan Club will be offering informal classes on manoeuvring caravans for the duration of the week.

However, the club has stated that, as well as only being available to its members, the taster courses will only be offered to caravanners able to produce a valid driving licence on the day.

Further information and other pointers regarding best practice when it comes to towing a caravan of any size will be available at the Caravan Club’s stand at the NEC event.

This year’s Boat and Caravan Show will also feature a canoe and kayak pool, a climbing wall and a mini marina, while visitors will be given the chance to try their arm at a number of new pursuits, including scuba diving.

Caravannners could head to a Blue Flag beach

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by Chris Malone

Caravannners planning a holiday in the UK this summer have been encouraged to choose one of Park Resorts’ sites near to a Blue Flag beach.

A number of its 39 coastal parks are in close proximity to award-winning seaside locations.

Those heading to the Isle of Wight’s Lower Hyde and Landguard are just half a mile and 1.5 miles from Shanklin Beach and Sandown Beach respectively.

Meanwhile, Nodes Point is just 4.5 miles from Ryde Each Beach – also on the island.

East Anglia is something of a hotspot for great beaches, with no fewer than six Blue Flags in close proximity with Park Resorts sites.

These include Kessingland Beach, which is in easy driving distance of both Shouthwold Beach and Lowestoft Beach.

Meanwhile, Kent’s Warden Springs is close to Beach Street Sheerness and Leysdown Beach, which is also one of the two Blue Flag sites accessible from the Shurland Dale facility.

Park Resorts recently encouraged holidaymakers to keep an eye on its website for all its latest offers.

Caravanners advised to enjoy Scottish sailing

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Holidaymakers enjoying caravanning breaks in Scotland are being encouraged to take advantage of some of the finest sailing in Europe.

The latest figures published by Wild Scotland show that around six in ten of its members, who include both big and small tourism operators, saw an increase in visitors over the course of 2009 as Britons opted to holiday at home.

And, according to Sail Scotland, growing numbers of those heading north of the border are looking to get active, with the country’s image changing among those taking a caravan holiday or other type of break there.

“They’re now identifying Scotland not just as the whisky, the tartan and the golf, but they are seeing it as a sailing destination,” explained the group’s director Tony Bennett.

As well as the historic Firth of Clyde, Mr Bennett also advised visitors to pitch their caravans close to the Firth of Clyde or Argyll and the Inner Hebrides so as to be close to the best sailing the country has to offer.

Of those polled in a recent study by travelsupermarket.com, one in three UK holidaymakers stated their main summer break would be a ‘staycation’.

Yorkshire caravan holidays to benefit from new cycle and walking path

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Holidaymakers looking to get on their bike while caravanning in Yorkshire are now able to enjoy a new walking and cycle path in the north of the county.

Aided by local volunteers, the Yorkshire Sustrans group has completed work on the new Harrogate path ahead of schedule.

The route, which allows holidaymakers staying in any of several nearby caravan parks to enjoy improved access to the Great Yorkshire Showground, was made possible by a recent funding award from Yorkshire Water and Laing O’Rourke.

Sustrans member Martin Weeks, who helped pitch the project to the panel of the construction firm’s Dragonfly’s Den competition, explained: “We were awarded a runner-up prize of 40 tonnes of road building stone by Laing O’Rourke following their approval of the idea to construct a new cycle path.”

News of the new cycle and walking route comes soon after the British Marine Federation reported that growing numbers of holidaymakers are opting to enjoy Britain’s inland waterways.

In particular, the growth in visitors to the country’s canals has been driven largely by the growing popularity of ‘staycations’, including caravan holidays in the UK.

Brits caravanning in France

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Brits who enjoy taking their caravan on the road for an adventurous holiday may be interested to hear that family breaks to France have made a resurgence of late.

This is according to France Magazine, which said that trips across the Channel were becoming more popular again.

Editor Carolyn Boyd revealed that Brits have been looking to escape the poor weather by camping and caravanning in the Gallic nation.

She suggested that areas such as Vendee on the east coast were particularly attractive for families as it is only a four-hour drive from ferry ports in the north.

Ms Boyd added that the “gorgeous beaches and great weather” are also a big draw and said that holidays in France can cost the same, if not less, than those in the UK.

Simonseeks.com recently named France as a potential travel hotspot for 2010, while the country was also first in the recent International Living magazine Quality of Life Index.

Caravan sites could benefit from foreign tourist influx

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The UK might experience an influx of visitors from China, Russia, Brazil and India in the coming years, it has been claimed.

Caravan sites in the UK may be hoping to latch onto the predicted influx of foreign visitors that is set to occur over the coming years.

According to a new report by VisitBritain, cash-rich travellers from emerging economies are set to hit Britain in large numbers in the near future.

Hailing from the BRIC nations – Brazil, Russia, India and China – the tourists could help boost the UK travel industry, according to The Tourism Alliance policy director Kurt Janson.

“We would agree that the BRIC countries hold the most potential for long-term growth in tourism to the UK, due to rising incomes and a burgeoning middle class in these countries,” he said.

Mr Janson added that bureaucratic matters and competition from other nations may put the brakes on such an influx.

The expert said the UK must work hard to encourage these new tourists to visit the country by removing potential barriers to entry.

He explained that the £570 in tax and visa costs for an Indian, Chinese or Brazilian family to visit the UK are off-putting.

Sun offers caravan holidays

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Caravan enthusiasts may wish to check out the Sun after it revealed that it is giving readers the chance to enjoy a cheap holiday at one of 193 UK caravan parks this year.

The newspaper is offering the breaks, which cost just £9.50 per person, in February, March, April, May, September, October and November.

Those who wish can pay a little extra and upgrade to a Luxury Plus Caravan for £17.50, while some summer breaks are available at £15.

The upgraded caravans have two feet of extra width and feature high-quality modern interiors, including a microwave oven.

However, the standard models also offer ample space in which to enjoy a holiday and are available with two or three bedrooms capable of sleeping up to eight people.

Readers wishing to take advantage of the offer must collect ten differently numbered tokens from the newspaper, which are printed in each copy of the Sun and the News of the World.

A number of caravan parks are available in Cornwall, where adventurous holidaymakers can enjoy surfing.

Arsonists torch caravan next to police station

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A caravan owner has been left devastated and shocked after her mobile home was torched by arsonists while parked just metres from a police station.

The incident occurred on Portal Avenue next to Suffolk Police Headquarters on January 2nd.

Despite wishing to remain nameless, the caravan’s female owner expressed her dismay that nobody has come forward with information on the crime.

She is offering a £1,000 reward to those who help convict the arsonists and revealed that cars leaving the police station have a good view of where it was located.

“We worked out there must have been around 400 people [in the building] and you would think someone might have noticed,” she told the East Anglia Daily Times.

The owner revealed that the crime could have turned to tragedy as she had realised a few weeks earlier that someone had forced entry to the mobile home and was using it as temporary accommodation.

The kind-hearted woman revealed that she had let the person stay there as she was concerned for their wellbeing in the snow over the Christmas period.

According to the Met Office, heavy snow is forecast for Yorkshire and Humber today (January 11th) and Wales tomorrow.

Snow fans use caravans to hit the slopes

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The recession has not put the brakes on holidays for skiers and snowboarders, who have turned to caravans to help them spend some cost-effective time on the snow.

According to caravan insurance provider Safeguard, it has noticed a marked rise in customers asking for quotes that cover them for heading to European ski resorts.

The firm explained that this makes sense as caravans offer affordable, yet comfortable accommodation, as well as enough room for all of your ski and snowboard equipment.

It said the fall of the sterling against the euro has made breaks to the Alps more expensive, but caravan owners could forgo the extra cost by taking their mobile home with them.

Safeguard manager Rita Sadler suggested that the financial downturn may have hit holidaymakers in the pocket.

“Skiing and snowboarding fans who have been looking forward to their winter break all year are seeking ways to cut costs without cutting their holiday short or even worse cancelling it completely,” she added.

Popular ski resorts in France include Chamonix, Alpe d’Huez and Tignes.

Parkdean explains May Day celebrations

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Caravan site operator Parkdean has taken the time to explain the history behind May Day and why it is still celebrated in some parts of Britain to this day.

Taking place on May 1st, many people now use the May Day bank holiday weekend to get away for a caravan trip.

However, it was traditionally celebrated by UK villagers, who would awake at dawn to collect flowers and twigs to construct a maypole.

The celebrations were generally held to mark the coming of spring and took place throughout Europe in many different forms.

In England, people would dance around the maypole to music played by a piper, with each child holding a coloured ribbon and circling the pole, skipping in time.

The effect would be that the ribbons ended up plaited together around the maypole, creating a colourful display.

Some villages still celebrate the coming of spring in this way even today.

Meanwhile, Parkdean recently set up an online booking section on its website, meaning that caravanners should now find it even easier to organise a holiday at one of its 24 sites around the UK.