The Farmers Mart Apr-May 2019 - Issue 62 | Page 11

FARM NEWS 11
• APR/MAY 2019
Farm sites also have a big advan-
tage over others: animals and pro-
duce available on the doorstep.
For example, could you offer the
chance for visitors to feed lambs in
spring, or pet any of the animals?
If your farm produces its own
meat, milk, eggs or vegetables, try
selling the produce to visitors or
perhaps including a breakfast or
barbecue hamper within the ac-
commodation package. You could
even set up a ‘cafe’ as part of the
site bringing in additional revenue
by selling breakfasts, lunches,
afternoon teas and snacks during
the daytime to site guests or even
passers-by. For example, if a
popular walking route passes via
your farm, why not capitalise on
this traffic? One of our campsites
even lets families ‘adopt’ a hen for
their stay, much to the delight of
younger visitors.
If you’re wondering how much
additional income camping and
glamping could generate, here are
some results from farms already
using Pitchup:
• In the 12 months to March
2019, Pitchup.com took 54,765
bookings for farm sites
• The average value of each
booking is £67.80, amounting
to an impressive £10,540 per
farm campsite, per year
• Pitchup.com currently takes
bookings for 361 farm camp-
sites in the UK
• The average UK Pitchup.com
listing receives 1,437 views
each year. The sites with more
diverse facilities and excellent
images are most popular
• Overall, Pitchup.com receives
up to 155,000 visits per day
• This year marks the 10th an-
niversary of Pitchup.com and
we’ve also taken our millionth
booking
Farmers still looking for reassur-
ance over the potential of camp-
ing and glamping being part of
their business should look at our
testimonials page for feedback
from others in the same situa-
tion. We have also published a
comprehensive guide to planning
and licensing a campsite at www.
pitchup.com/how-start-campsite-
caravan-park
Whether you are considering
diversifying your existing farm set
up and would consider camping
as part of your overall business
model - running the two busi-
nesses side by side, or whether
you might be considering leaving
farming all together and investing
in an alternative future, joining in
the hospitality industry can reap
dramatic rewards.