How to Write a Campsite Welcome Pack Guests Actually Read

Ask most campsite owners what happens when a guest arrives and you will hear the same answer. A quick hello, a point towards their pitch, a rundown of where the showers are, and off they go. Ten minutes later the phone rings. Sorry, where is the bin store? Half an hour after that, another guest is wandering around looking for the washing up. A good campsite welcome pack fixes this. Done well, it answers the questions before they are asked, sets the tone for the stay, and makes your guests feel properly looked after without adding work to your day.

This guide is for owners who want to write a welcome pack from scratch, or tidy up the one they already have. It covers what to include, what to leave out, how to write it in a voice that sounds like you, and how to get it into guests' hands at the right moment.

What a Welcome Pack Actually Is

A welcome pack is the single place a guest goes to find everything they need to know about staying at your site. It is not a marketing brochure and it is not your full terms and conditions. Think of it as the friendly version of your house rules combined with a local guide. If a guest has only five minutes to read something before they settle in, this is what you want them looking at.

The best welcome packs share a few traits. They are short enough to read in one sitting. They are written in plain English. They answer the practical questions first and save the lovely prose about the surrounding countryside for later. And crucially, they look like they were written by a real person who runs the site, not copied from a template that could belong to any park in the UK.

What to Include in Your Welcome Pack

Every site is different, but most good welcome packs cover the same core ground. Work through the list below and keep the sections that apply to you.

The essentials

• A warm opening. Two or three sentences thanking the guest for choosing your site and saying who you are. This is the single most underused part of a welcome pack.
• Arrival information. Check in times, where to find the owner on arrival, and what to do if you are running late. Include a phone number that actually gets answered.
• Pitch details. How to find their pitch, how the hookup works if applicable, and where to park the car.
• WiFi. Network name, password and any limits. If you do not have WiFi, say so cheerfully. Guests would rather know up front than keep searching.
• Water, waste and electric. Where to fill up, where the chemical disposal point is, and how the electric bollards work if they are coin or token operated.
• Facilities. Showers, toilets, washing up, laundry. Opening hours if they are locked overnight. A quick note on how to report anything that is not working.
• Bins and recycling. What goes where. This one sentence saves you half a dozen conversations a week.
• Quiet hours. Stated plainly. Most UK sites use 10pm to 7am or 11pm to 8am. Be clear about what quiet means in practice.
• Dogs, fires and barbecues. Your rules on each. If you allow fires, explain what is acceptable. Raised barbecues only, or fire pits provided by you, or not at all.
• Departure. Checkout time, where to leave the key fob or token, and whether you need the pitch cleared by a certain time.

The nice to haves

• A map of the site. Hand drawn is fine. Mark the facilities, the bin store and any footpaths.
• Local recommendations. Three or four places you genuinely like. A pub that does a proper Sunday roast, a walk that takes an hour, the farm shop down the road. Keep it short and personal rather than listing every attraction within thirty miles.
• Emergency information. Nearest hospital, nearest vet, your out of hours contact number, and the postcode of the site for ambulance or recovery services.
• Things that make you different. If you have chickens that lay fresh eggs, a stargazing spot, or a neighbour who runs a pizza van on Fridays, tell them.

The Tone Matters More Than the Layout

The quickest way to spot a welcome pack that nobody reads is to look at the language. If it starts with "Please be advised that guests are required to" then guests will put it down before the end of the first page. The words you use set the tone for the whole stay, and it takes very little effort to sound like a human being rather than a legal document.

A few rules that make a big difference:

• Write as you would speak. Short sentences. Contractions are fine. If it sounds natural read aloud, keep it.
• Lead with what the guest can do, not what they cannot. "Fires are welcome in the raised pits we provide" lands better than "Open fires on the ground are strictly prohibited."
• Use their name. If you can, personalise the opening line. Guests notice.
• Thank them. A simple thank you at the start and at the end goes a long way.
• Sign it. End with your name, or the names of you and your family if it is a family run site. A welcome pack signed "The Management" reads as cold and anonymous.

How to Deliver It

The welcome pack itself is only half the job. Getting it in front of guests at the right moment is the other half. Most sites use a combination of the following approaches.

Before arrival

Send a version of the welcome pack in your pre arrival email, two or three days before the booking starts. This lets guests read it when they are packing the van, not after they have arrived tired and hungry. A pre arrival email is also the obvious place to include directions, a what3words location and a reminder of the expected arrival window. If you use automated guest messaging, this email can go out the same way every time without you lifting a finger.

At the pitch

A printed copy on the pitch, clipped to a notice board or left in a waterproof sleeve on the hookup post, is still the most reliable way to reach everyone. Keep it to one or two sides of A4. Use bold headings so guests can scan for what they need rather than reading the whole thing.

In the facilities

Longer information, such as local walks or a list of nearby pubs, works well as a folder left in the facilities block or reception. Guests who want that detail will seek it out. Guests who do not will not feel buried under paperwork.

Digital vs Printed

There is no right answer here. Most guests appreciate both. A printed copy at the pitch covers the basics. A digital version sent by email lets guests tap on your phone number, copy the WiFi password and click through to Google Maps for your local recommendations.

If you run a modern booking system, the digital delivery takes care of itself. The welcome pack can be attached to the confirmation email, sent again a few days before arrival, and linked from an automated reminder message. Guests get it whether they open the first email or the third.

For printed packs, keep design simple. A single column of text, a clear heading for each section, and a small map at the end is plenty. Fancy graphics age badly and cost time to update. A Word document printed on decent paper looks professional enough.

A Simple Template to Start With

If you do not have a welcome pack yet, the quickest way to get started is to spend an hour working through this skeleton and filling in each section for your site.

• Welcome message and who you are (3 sentences)
• Arrival and your contact number (2 sentences)
• Finding your pitch and parking (3 sentences)
• WiFi, electric, water and waste (one short paragraph each)
• Facilities and how to report problems (1 paragraph)
• Bins, quiet hours, dogs, fires (bullet list)
• Local recommendations, three or four places (short bullet list)
• Departure (2 sentences)
• Emergency numbers (bullet list)
• Sign off with your name and a thank you

You will end up with somewhere between 500 and 900 words, which is about right. Longer than that and guests skim. Shorter than that and you are probably leaving something out.

Keep It Updated

A welcome pack is a living document. Set a reminder to review it at the start of each season and again at midsummer. Things change. The pub down the road might have closed for refurbishment. The bin collection day might have moved. The WiFi password probably has not, but check anyway. Guests lose faith in a site quickly if the welcome pack contradicts reality.

If you run a CL site or a CS site, you have an advantage here. Your welcome pack can be genuinely personal, mentioning your dog by name or explaining which gate to use if the main one is tied open. Larger parks tend to sound corporate by default, which is why a warm and personal welcome pack stands out so strongly on a small site.

The Takeaway

A campsite welcome pack is one of the cheapest and most effective pieces of guest communication you can produce. It costs you an hour to write, pennies to print, and nothing at all to send by email. Guests who read it ask fewer questions, feel more at home, and are far more likely to leave a good review. For the sake of a morning's work, it is one of the highest return investments on the site.

If you want the delivery side handled automatically, with welcome packs sent out before every arrival and reminders that go on schedule, try CampSuite free. CL and CS sites pay nothing, and you can be set up in about fifteen minutes.