Pitchup.com announces record New Year trading figures

Outdoor accommodation specialist Pitchup.com reports record growth in the first seven days of New Year trading, with overall bookings up 78% year-on-year.

The website, which features over 1,605 bookable camping, caravanning and glamping sites in the UK, Europe and USA, has seen huge demand for static caravans with bookings up 155% year-on-year.

UK regional bookings are also up across the board. Wales has seen the biggest increase of 138%, while the south east has grown by 92%.

Despite the flooding in Cumbria over the festive period, the north west saw a 40% growth in bookings during the first seven days of 2016 trading.

Bookings for continental Europe show that France is leading the way with a 159% increase year-on-year.

Dan Yates, Founder of Pitchup.com said: “We’ve had an exceptional start to the year, particuarly in the static caravan market, as customers book early to secure their preferred choice. Sites are releasing their allocation earlier in line with other sectors of the travel industry, which is widening the booking window significantly. We’ve seen a 60% increase in the number of sites that have already released their allocation on Pitchup.com compared to this time last year.”

He continued: “The UK is performing well overall which indicates that the staycation trend is set to continue: Brits spent 10% more nights camping and caravanning in the UK last year than in 2014.*”

Yates concluded: “France has always been a popular choice with UK campers who spent 6.3 million nights there in 2015.** The strength of the pound against the euro is also a key factor behind the 159% growth.”

*January - September 2015 compared to the same period in 2014, GBTS
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For media information:
Contact Cass Helstrip or Jardine Howlett at White Tiger PR
jardine.howlett@whitetigerpr.com 07866 508737
cass.helstrip@whitetigerpr.com 07968 255464

About Pitchup.com

Founded in 2009 by former lastminute.com man, Dan Yates, multi-award winning Pitchup.com lists over 1,500 outdoor accommodation locations in 18 countries, providing users with a simple platform where they can search for and book a holiday with ease.

In 2013 Pitchup.com became the first business of its type to launch a bookable mobile app and site, making the site easily accessible to users of mobile and tablet devices. The mobile site, m.pitchup.com, now accounts for 25% of bookings.
Pitchup.com enables users to search for all types of parks and sites from more than 60 chains right through to one-off campsites and unique outdoor accommodation options, which may have previously lacked a web presence.

Awards include Best UK Travel Website of the Year at the British Travel Press Awards 2011, Best Travel / Leisure / Sports / Mobile Strategy / Campaign at the Marketing on Mobile Awards 2014, and most recently ‘Best Place to Stay – Budget’ at The Independent Travel Awards 2015 ("a website that’s doing wonders connecting us with the countryside in Britain and beyond").