Pitchup was founded on a love of the great outdoors, and we love what we do; we camp, we caravan, we travel.

We care about protecting our natural environments, ensuring that outdoor holidays leave as little trace as possible, minimise the impact on the environment, and boost rural economies. 

Outdoor holidays are a great option for sustainable travel with plenty of low-carbon accommodation options. Outdoor holidays are less carbon intensive than resort or hotel holidays, and a recent study claimed that staying in a motorhome or caravan produces ten times less carbon than staying in a hotel, with camping in a tent producing even less [Climate Footprint of Travelling with Motorhomes and Caravans, Heidelberg, 2020]. Often those taking outdoor holidays are much less likely to fly too, reducing their carbon footprint even further. 

As Pitchup continues to grow, now working with over 5.5k campsites and holiday parks globally, our focus is to ensure that growth is sustainable and it does not impinge on the quality of life for residents in tourist destinations, or adversely impact the environment. 

Sites using Pitchup are doing their bit to help customers make sustainable choices for their holidays, without compromising on fun or convenience. Over 500 sites on Pitchup offer pick-up from local transport, meaning travellers can leave their cars at home or those who own cars need not worry. Almost 3,000 Pitchup sites have public transport services nearby too,  offering great choice and ease for those looking for a flight and car-free trip. Environmentally minded travellers can also be reassured that 17%, or just under 1,000, campsites on Pitchup are also powered by renewable energy such as wind or solar power.

Be it residents, wildlife, plant life or sea creatures, we holiday in people’s homes and we are committed to ensuring Pitchup sites and customers positively contribute to tourist destinations and the environment. 

What is sustainable tourism?

The demand for sustainable travel is becoming one of the biggest and growing travel trends with 76% of travellers saying they want to travel more sustainably in the next 12 months, and be willing to spend more on more sustainable options [Booking.com, Sustainable Travel Report 2023], but what does it actually mean? 

Sustainable tourism aims to encourage sustainable practices both in tourism businesses across the world, by protecting local communities and environments, and encouraging tourists to do the same. 

 This includes prioritising practices that:

• Respect local communities

• Promote viable and long-term economic benefits including employment and income earning opportunities for local communities

• Provide high levels of tourism satisfaction, raising awareness of sustainability issues and promoting sustainable tourism behaviours

• Protect the environment

 To learn more about sustainable tourism read the United Nations World Tourism Office (UNWTO) Sustainable Development Goals. 

How can Pitchup help? 

 

Supporting farmers and rural communities

In 2021, Pitchup successfully campaigned for Permitted Development Rights for campsites to be permanently extended to 60 days in England (from 28 days) after they had been temporarily extended during the pandemic. This change made it possible for more temporary campsites to open, quickly providing supply to accommodate the increased demand for outdoor holidays. It also provided farmers and landowners with a diversification opportunity to help them support their businesses as the Basic Payment Scheme was phased out. Beyond the benefit to customers and landowners, in 2021, temporary campsites listed on Pitchup across the UK generated an estimated £25m for the British rural economy (based on ‘Pitching the Value’ figures p.23), including £12.3m in off-site spend for local pubs, restaurants and shops for example, helping to underpin the viability of these businesses for the benefit of the whole community.

Approximately 700 'pop-up' campsites are currently listed on Pitchup. These sites are mostly in agricultural communities away from coastal 'honeypots’, relieving pressure on tourism hotspots.

As well as providing much-needed capacity and revenue to rural communities, pop-ups are also attracting new customers to camping. Many visitors are switching from other types of holiday - one whose trip to Barbados was cancelled enjoyed their camping trip at a north Devon farm so much, they are returning this year. In this way, pop-ups are helping customers to make more sustainable travel choices. 

 

Pitchup and the Farming Community Network (FCN)

In 2023, Pitchup partnered with the Farming Community Network. The majority of Pitchup sites are either currently working farms or started life as one and with farmer mental health declining, we wanted to do more to support this community. So far we have collaborated with the FCN to provide diversification advice to their members and invited them to give a talk to our team about the mental health of farmers, and some of the challenges they may experience including stress, isolation and loneliness. We have also been raising awareness of the charity within our newsletter to campsite owners and signposting to FCN resources and services where necessary.  

Providing information for customers

With every UK booking confirmation, Pitchup sends Natural England’s Countryside code. This policy was introduced in 2021 after reports the increased number of to the countryside were contributing to visitor’s dogs worrying sheep, littering and even ‘cow-tipping’. We believe we may have distributed more copies of the Countryside Code than any other organisation, sending it with 2.66 million UK booking confirmations, reaching 6.9 million people.   

Additionally, in 2014 Pitchup began adding bathing water quality scores for all sites in the EU near 25,000 bodies of water. This data is refreshed as and when governing bodies publish new quality scores, and empowers customers booking coastal, river or lakeside sites with the reassurance that it is permissible and safe to swim. 

Protecting the environment

Pitchup site owners and managers actively contribute to countryside management, conservation, and wildlife protection. There are sites who pride themselves on being wildlife havens or walker’s paradises, sites who are situated in National Parks, World Heritage Sites, Nature Reserves and Sites of Specific Scientific Interest. If you’re lucky enough to stay at one of these sites you’ll see how passionate their site team’s are about being custodians of our beautiful landscapes. 

By booking a holiday through Pitchup, customers can look after the well-being of the countryside, while looking after themselves. 

Access to Nature: The Outdoors for Everyone

At Pitchup we believe that the outdoors for everyone, and everyone should be able to experience the positive impact spending time in nature can have on our well-being. 

Accessibility 

In 2024, we partnered with Purple Goat to commission a research survey with 2,000 disabled people, to understand their thoughts, experiences and challenges with finding outdoor accommodation that meets their needs. 

As a result of the findings we recently launched new accessibility search filters that allow sites to add additional information on accessible bathrooms, parking, slopes and hills, terrain and dedicated quiet spaces for example. When searching, customers can now select a combination of accessibility filters that match their needs to find a place to stay. 

Visit our Accessibility Hub to learn more about the research and how we’re supporting disabled customers to make the most of the great outdoors. 

Affordability

We were concerned to learn from the Natural Landscapes Review that 1 in 5 children living in the most deprived areas of the UK never visit a natural landscape, with 13% of children across the UK also never spending any of their leisure time outside (Defra, 2019). 

The Pitchup team works hard to ensure that there is a huge choice and variety of accommodation on PItchup.com. From large holiday parks with on-site food and drink, entertainment, and swimming pools to tiny campsites with less than ten pitches to the rugged and off-grid spots, we aim to provide our customers with accommodation option to suit all needs and budgets. Pitches start from as low as £2 a night, providing an affordable choice for holidays in the outdoors.

Customers can also make use of sites that offer a free pick up from public transport, or have public transport nearby to avoid the need for a car or expensive private transfers. 

The Pitchup platform and team

As a fully-remote team and a Google Cloud based platform, Pitchup is organised around sustainability principles, ensuring emissions from both our platform and team are minimised where possible. The migration to Google Cloud in 2021 means Pitchup.com will save 1,932 tonnes of CO2 over three years. By using Pitchup customers are making more sustainable travel choices from the moment they book.

Ready to book? Find a site now.

Curious about how your holiday carbon emissions add up? Check out the carbon calculator from Carbon Footprint to understand your transport and accommodation emissions.