Does Camping Cost More Than a Holiday Abroad?

A new study by a moneysaving website in the UK has discovered that Britons choose to holiday in the UK in a bid to save money, out of convenience and even to experience the beauty of their home country. The first camping trip can be expensive though, costing Britons – on average – £680, just £70 cheaper than the average per person cost of a holiday abroad.

Britons pay £750 per person to holiday abroad, on average, yet in a bid to save money they’ll spend £680 to camp in the UK, covering the cost of a tent, food and drink and all the various bits and pieces of furniture and equipment they’ll need.

The team behind the moneysaving website www.VoucherCodesPro.co.uk conducted the research as part of an ongoing study into Britons’ holiday costs. 2,156 Britons aged 18 and over were quizzed about their holidays, all of whom stated that they had holidayed within the UK at least once in the past two years, and had holidayed abroad previously too.

Initially all respondents were asked ‘What encouraged you to holiday within the UK?’ to which the top responses were ‘the idea of a cheaper holiday’ (37%), ‘it was convenient’ (30%) and ‘to experience more of my home country’ (19%). When asked how they had chosen to holiday in the UK, the most popular choices were ‘camping’ (33%), ‘in a caravan/static home’ (28%) and ‘in B&Bs/hostels/hotels’ (25%).

All respondents were then asked to state how much they’d spent on their last holiday abroad, with the average response being revealed as £750 per person. All those who had been camping were asked to estimate how much they’d had to spend on their first camping trip, taking into account equipment, such as a tent, sleeping bags and paying to pitch up – the average response was revealed as £680.

All relevant respondents were asked what they’d had to purchase for their camping trip and how much they had spent doing so in order to determine the most expensive items. Once all of the responses were collated, the top five most expensive camping items were revealed as:

A tent – £300 (average amount spent)
Food and drink – £115
Furniture (i.e. tables, chairs, windbreakers etc.) – £85
Travel to and from – £80
Cooking equipment, including disposable cutlery & crockery – £65

According to the poll, when asked why they didn’t just choose to go abroad, 73% of those who went camping stated that the first camping trip was expensive having to purchase everything, but the next would be much cheaper as they’d already have everything they needed.

Of those who purchased the camping gear, 40% had already booked another camping holiday and 35% had already gone camping at least one more time.

George Charles, spokesperson for www.VoucherCodesPro.co.uk, commented:

“There are so many wonderful places to visit, and beautiful sights to see right here on our doorstep in the UK. The first camping trip might be expensive, acquiring the gear that’s needed, but it’s an investment and you’ll only have to fork out for it the once. Not just that, but you can up and go whenever you want – the cost to pitch up isn’t very much. The thought of being able to holiday at the drop of a hat, whenever you want, far outweighs the initial costs.”