Caravan Club Magazine

[Trevor_374569540]

I have just received this months copy of the Caravan Club Magazine, had five minutes spare and noted that it consists of 115 pages with 54 and a half being adverts. A thought crossed my mind how much the club makes from the advertisers and it makes you wonder why the prices keep going up at the sites, they must be making a bomb, I do appreciate that advertising today is one of the worlds biggest cons. How did the club manage all those years ago?
I am ready for the onslaught

 

[pitpony]

It's not just the CCmag, my British Legion is just the sam even my fishing mags are just pages full of adverts,

 

[KeefySher]

The online version comes out before the hard copy arrives, so flicking through content rather than ads is easier.

There are occasional ads worth following up. Earlier this year, Feb I think, there was an ad for 'Colourfence' a steel garden fence. I'm familiar with the principles from my early career in another application at scale. Having been let down by fencing bods over 2 years where quotes were received, start times agreed and no fence replaced; I called the 'Colourfence' number nearby. Rick Gregory the local franchise holder gave a date for the site inspection and turned up on time. Promised a quote in a timeframe and bettered it. We set an installation date dependant on weather with a completion date. The new fence was installed in the time and we are dead chuffed with a 25 year warranty and a fence that will withstand all the UK weather can deliver. It worked out at 17% more than a wooden fence, cheaper than concrete posts and gravel boards with wooden panels. Looks better too.

If it hadn't been for the CC mag we'd still be trying to find a fence bod that would deliver.

 

[chrisbee1]

The ratio of adverts and pages of floor plans to interesting, informative articles is the reason I've stopped buying the two main caravan magazines. I do flick through the CC one but certainly wouldn't buy it through choice. I remain a member of the CC for access to CLs and their insurance products.

 

[Martin24]

The magazine and the revenue gained by it is a small part of the club services, insurance offers, breakdown services and above all else access to the excellent CL network all have to be paid for. I understand they also invest heavily in keeping the standard of club sites fairly high and of course have to pay for the on going maintenance and running costs. So many people (not us) seem to insist that they won't use a caravan toilet or shower and have to cook using some sort electric gizmo along with heating their awnings and having to park on a hardstanding that the prices will go up. If all this didn't need to be provided for the site costs would be much lower.

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

I believe the CL network are effectively 'franchises' as they are private concerns and there is no cost to the Caravan Club, other than managing their listing in the handbook and on the website. And of course the inspection of them.

 

[Martin24]

They are a private concern but on top of what you mention we can only access them by being members and of course there are always the grumblers complaining to the club about nothing and that needs managing too.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Although we are living with historically very low interest rates, and small inflationary pressures in general, we have seen austerity measures that do affect cost of running caravan sites, and disproportionately more for small sites like CL's etc.. Local authority rates have gone up, site insurances have risen, especially if there's a risk of flooding. These are just few example's of pressures on site owners and which because the can't produce better productivity, they can't offset rising costs against increased productivity.

Larger sites where there are employees working, there have been increased national insurance, and workplace pensions, living wage, all of which put costs up, and in an industry where there is little scope of an individual site owner being able to increase productivity, their facing the same dilemma as the smaller operators. For larger operators the only real cost savings can be achieved by cutting employees hours, so you would receive less or poorer ' service'.

 

[travellerone]

That is why I have stopped buying magazines and newspapers. Fed up of adverts and the same articles being recycled every few years.

 

[Dustydog]

On the contrary.
If we had magazines half the size missing out all the adverts I bet the site costs would be far greater than they are. :kiss:

 

[chrisbee1]

Only having time for a quick flick through the latest magazine I note they have dropped the usual article where they highlight 3x CLs following a certain theme, talking to the owners and visitors. That was one of the few items I read.

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

If you mean the current October issue then it's on page 35, CLs attached to public houses. I found it easily looking at the index rather than a 'quick flick through'. Or have you already received the November edition?

 

[chrisbee1]

Yeh, it's the November one.

 

[Raywood]

Bearing in mind the magazine is free and the equivalent magazines like PC cost about £4 it must need a lot of advertising to cover that missing revenue but even if the club makes a profit on it this is ploughed back into other services so complaining about the number is simply not sensible. If they do not interest you do not read them like the rest of us.
I would not criticise the content, different things interest different people, so you take what suits you and ignore the rest as i think with all magazines. Personally I am not interested in motorhomes but they are also used by club members so I live with it.