CARAVAN and camping sites across the country are facing a busy summer as holiday-makers swap foreign vacations for trips closer to home.

Park owners are experiencing a boost in the number of bookings they are taking for the summer season.

Many are attributing the rise to an increasing number of people opting to holiday at home to save money.

Caravan parks also reported full houses over the Easter holiday, with visitors coming from across the country for a long break.

Dennis Smith, who owns Hillhead Caravan Park at Kintore, Aberdeenshire, said an increasing number of families were buying caravans and storing them on his site.

The 120-vehicle storage area is at capacity and has a waiting list of up to a month, which is a 30% rise in figures from last year.

“There has been an influx of caravans being stored here this year,” he said.

“That has been doing exceptionally well this year.

“I would say people have decided that caravan holidays are cheaper and less stressful than going abroad.

“Many of them want to try the freedom of caravaning.”

The largest vehicles available are being quickly snapped up by enthusiasts who reject the tradition of buying a small secondhand caravan and regularly upgrading it, he added.

The warden at Aboyne Loch Caravan Park on Deeside, Trisha Anderson, said a lot of young couples and groups of young people were choosing to camp.

She also reported more people choosing to book their caravans in for the whole season.

The season started early for Burnside Caravan Park at Fochabers because of the high numbers of visitors looking for somewhere to park their tourers.

A spokesman said bookings for the summer months were coming in “thick and fast”.

“It is just the cost of going abroad,” he said. “People are getting a bit fed up and are preparing to stay at home.”

He predicted that the number of foreign visitors would also rise this year.

“It is more favourable to them now with their exchange rate,” he said. “For the last couple of years it was not cost effective for them but now it’s equalised.”

The story is not positive for everyone. John Campbell, who sells static caravans at Thurso, said sales had dropped dramatically since the recession set in.

“We don’t have a lot of sites up here for putting static caravans in,” he said.

“We sell to people building houses who put the caravans on the site.

“We have hardly sold anything since December.

“The year before there were quite a few going, but people don’t have the money now. There are some people building but not the same extent as was happening before.”

Source: pressandjournal.co.uk