Bentham Golf Course

John Marshall
Operations Director at Wenningdale Escapes, Bentham Golf Course and Riverside
Caravan Park.
How COVID has helped the UK staycation market - 5 years on!
“If COVID has taught us anything about the travel and staycation market, we must remain
nimble regarding our offerings as travel and tourism businesses.
As a long-standing family-run business, we know what we do well, and this will always be
our bread and butter; however, it is how we adapt and add additional activities to our core
offering to keep it as people love and attract new visitors, holiday home owners and golf
enthusiasts!
As we prepare for 2025, we took some time as a team and a business to review some new
trends we envision to be popular in the staycation market in 2025 - and here is what we
think.”
- Nostalgia:
- More than ever, people are returning to the humble UK holiday, and we see
this continuing to be popular in 2025. From a caravan trip to a luxury lodge or
glamping pod, people are falling back in love with the beauty of the UK
market and seaside towns - why would you want to go anywhere else?
- Activity led holidays:
- As a business, we have had over an 11% YoY increase in our golf income as
more people than ever are excited to tie their holidays into their passions. Our
site is home to 11 glamping pods and 21 lodges (with space for another 15),
which allow people to combine a beautiful trip away with their favourite
activities. We see similar traction to our shing pond during the peak season
as people get to enjoy a peaceful caravan trip and a picturesque shing
afternoon.
- Rail to trail:
- More than ever, people want to staycation to switch off, which means ditching
the car. Proximity to train and public transport is key, allowing people to save
money on staying slightly out of peak locations and also enjoy the local
attractions without driving. As a business, offering guests as much help and
information on local tourism and transport when booking is always benecial!
- Wellness weekends:
- Wellness is the word on everyone's lips in January; we have seen more and
more people searching for trips to places where they can be at one with
nature. Activities such as hiking and cold water swimming remain a key way
of improving your physical and mental wellness, and locations that can be a
base for people nding them will be a signicant driving factor for bookings in
2025.
- Stargazing and beauty-rst locations:
- With a return to the ofce becoming more and more prevalent in the last year,
we believe that as a location that offers fantastic hikes, views and stargazing,
people are becoming increasingly interested in the UK's natural beauty spots
as they ee busy cities and ofces! We are close to the Forest of Bowland NL,
Yorkshire Dales NP, and Lake District NP, and we know this is a big pull for our
visitors and holiday homeowners.
- Ownership:
- As a continuation of activity-related trips, we envision holiday home
ownership growing into 2025. People have spent the last 5 years exploring
different locations and want to become repeat visitors to sites and locations
they love!
- Flexi rst with a personal touch:
- Life is busier than ever, so staycation companies that offer great exibility and
a customer-rst touch point remain on top for 2025! People are pinching at
the pennies and, by default, looking for places where they receive tip-top
customer service and a personal approach to booking with exibility at its
core!
- Travelling with dogs:
- Last but *maybe* most importantly (we are a big family of dog lovers!), we see
a continuation of people looking to source trips and holidays that are
dog-friendly and compatible. We know how vital our furry friends are, and one
of the most valuable things about travelling in the UK is the option to save the
pennies at the dogsitters and enjoy our travels with our four-legged
companions in tow.
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