Lake District Campsites focus on Quality
The English Lake District is synonymous with stunning scenery, romantic poetry, outdoor activities and holidays and camping is one of the most popular and afforadable ways to enjoy the area.
Research carried out by NS&O suggests that the Lake District camping market is beginning to catch up with what has been happening elsewhere in the UK and across Europe and North America.
A focus on facilities, service and quality is a way to differentiate campsites and attract an audience that chooses to camp not primarily for economic reasons, but as part of their lifestyle choice.
With a long established trend of increased requirement for improved facilities and services and increased competition in the 'tap in a field' market brought about by farm diversification the clear opportunity was available in the high quality end of the market. The existing infrastructure delivered a base level upon which improved facilities and services could be built.
The brand in question is an extremely well known blue-chip organisation, with the brand characteristics of high quality, long-term, environmentally aware and public access oriented, but not well known for the provision of campsites, although holiday cottage accomodation is a high value income stream within the national organisation.
IThere seemed to be a dissonance between the campsite delivery and the brand expectations, with a relatively high degree of disatisfaction at some aspects of the operation, including the customer interface. Further investigation found that some key staff saw their customers as a necessary evil that required keeping in their place and in some instances the 'wrong sort of people' were turned away because of their manner of dress.
The lack of customer focus was a symptom of a lack of management and direction. Each of the sites had a different senior manager and common terms and conditions, policies and approaches were the exception making the marketing of the sites very complex and difficult.
The final report that came out of the review included a long-term strategic plan for the development of the campsite operation, a new senior and operational structure, a customer service training plan, details of physical improvements required to achieve a higher star rating and their likely costs and payback periods and proposals for additional income streams through some diversification into ready erected tents, Yurts, Teepees and Log Cabins.
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