Carry on camping urges Holidaybreak

CHESHIRE travel operator Holidaybreak is banking on cash-strapped holidaymakers rediscovering the UK.

The Northwich-based business, which operates the Eurocamp, Keycamp and PGL brands, is setting up nine “UK Escape” sites, according to reports.

The Eurocamp sites, geared at families on a tight budget looking for a weekend break, are in the Lake District, Snowdonia, Yorkshire, Scotland and the south west.

The move marks a return to domestic holidays for the group which abandoned its last three UK campsites 15 years ago.

But Holidaybreak may face stiff competition from other firms offering foreign trips at discount rates as the industry fights for bookings.

Major tour operators are slashing prices fearful that rising unemployment and the falling value of the pound against the euro will put many travellers off going abroad. So far this year there has been an 11% drop in the number of summer holiday bookings.

Holidaybreak’s chief executive Carl Michel said he is focusing on the weekend break market.

He told the Financial Times: “We should not forget that we have had two wet and windy summers and there is no guarantee the next one won’t be as well.

“For their main holiday people will go where they want and where they know the sun will shine.”