All Of Tourism

Most people would have thought that caravanning was the kind of activity that would survive the economic crisis largely unscathed. After all, caravans are an incredibly cheap way of having a great (albeit self-catered) holiday, and there have been no reports from the likes of Park Resorts (experts in caravan holidays as well as old and new caravan sales) of a drop in the number of people taking caravan holidays.

However, it is clear that the number of new caravan sales in the UK have been dropping off. Swift Caravans, who are probably the biggest of the UK’s manufacturers of caravans and motor homes, recently announced that they would have to make as many as 90 redundancies.

The problem, obviously, is that demand for new caravans and motor homes is falling, even if the number of caravaners isn’t. A new caravan can set you back as much as £15,000 if you’re going for a really top of the range model, whereas you can get second-hand ones for barely into four figures.

Closer inspection of Swift Caravan’s recent history suggests that the market is in something of a state of turmoil. In 2008 the company had to lay off 300 workers because of an abrupt fall in demand, caused by the economic crisis, but then last year, as sales began to pick up, they were able to re-hire 200 new staff.

The company also has recently expanded its factory, which is based in Cottingham, and says that even if short-term prospects are gloomy, in the long run it’s optimistic that demand will pick up. Although some industry insiders point out that as the quality of new caravans has improved drastically over the last twenty to thirty years, it’s possible that the second-hand market will pick up even more as the vans themselves now have longer running lives.

The factor that may decide the long term success of Swift and their rivals is the much vaunted ‘staycation’. In the wake of the recession, Brits increasingly decided to stay at home for their holidays, as it was felt foreign travel would be more expensive. However, much depends on the future of the budget airline industry, which still seems to be going well. As long as cheap air travel is possible, people are liable to choose southern Spain over sunny Scarborough.

Additionally, there are so many static caravan sites based around the UK, that the need to actually buy your own van is diminishing. Staying in a static caravan obviously costs more than a simple pitch, but you don’t have to buy the van in the first place. Still, for the freedom of the open road, and the possibility to go wherever you fancy, it seems likely that caravans will stay a familiar sight on the UK’s motorways for many years to come.

For many people the concept of a pre-paid travel card is a new one. They’re becoming increasingly more common however due to them being very easy to get, easy to use, and incredibly safe as a method for carrying money when you travel.

No longer do you need to worry about taking car hire valencia, travellers cheques and cashing them. You don’t need to carry cash or take your own credit or debit card putting your financial details at risk out there. Instead, you can take a pre-paid travel card loaded up with your own money.

These pre-paid travel cards often offer great exchange rates too meaning you can take advantage of this as well. They’re designed specifically with this purpose in mind.

The card can be used for shopping and making purchases in exactly the same way as a regular credit or debit card. They use secure chip and pin technology making them nice and safe, and if by some chance someone did steal one, then it’s not linked to your bank account or credit account at all so your details are all completely safe.

The cards are all backed by either Visa or MasterCard which means that they’re accepted world wide in every location that displays the relevant logo. As long as you’ve enough money on the card you can make any purchase you wish to with them.

To use one of these cards, you simply pre-load it with your own money in advance, meaning that you’re never going into any debt and never have any money to be paid back at a later date. It offers you the security of travelling knowing you’ve plenty of money available, but without putting your details at risk or worrying about a big debt afterwards as you can budget in your normal way with this by checking how much you’ve got left on the card any time you like.

An added advantage when travelling is that some of the budget airlines now charge an extra amount if you book your tickets by credit or debit card. However, many of them offer the chance to buy the same tickets without paying this extra fee if you use a specific type of pre-paid travel card to make the payment. If you’re booking for 4 of you to travel together this can mean you’ll save 8 times (once per person per plane journey).

Another bonus with pre-paid cards is that as there is no credit involved, there’s no credit checks needed in order to get one. You simply apply and are granted an account and then load your own money on to the card prior to use meaning that you’re never going into debt which is great as it means you don’t have any worrying credit card bills to return home to either.