How to Prepare Your Campsite for Peak Season

Peak season can make or break a campsite's year. For many UK touring parks, caravan sites and small campsites, the months between May and September account for the vast majority of annual revenue. The difference between a stressful summer and a smooth one almost always comes down to preparation.

Whether you run a five-pitch Certificated Location in the Cotswolds or a 200-pitch touring park on the Welsh coast, the fundamentals are the same. Get your site ready now, and you will spend the summer looking after guests instead of firefighting problems. Here is a practical, no-nonsense guide to getting it done.

Ground and pitch maintenance

Start with the ground beneath your guests' feet. After a British winter, most sites need a proper once-over before anyone arrives.

• Walk every pitch. Look for waterlogged areas, uneven ground, rabbit holes and tree roots that have shifted over winter. Mark anything that needs attention.
• Sort your drainage. Clear ditches, check French drains and make sure surface water has somewhere to go. Nothing ruins a holiday faster than a flooded pitch after a downpour.
• Level and repair hardstanding. Fill potholes, re-lay loose gravel and check that hardstanding pitches are still level. A caravan on a slope is nobody's idea of fun.
• Mow and strim. Get grass pitches cut early and keep on top of it. Tidy edges around fence lines, paths and hook-up bollards make a huge difference to first impressions.
• Check access roads and paths. Fill ruts, trim overhanging branches and make sure your entrance is clear for larger motorhomes and caravans with awnings.

If you have trees on site, now is a good time to get a tree surgeon in for any dead branches or overhanging limbs. It is much cheaper to deal with them proactively than after they have landed on someone's caravan.

Facilities check

Your toilet and shower block is the single biggest factor in guest reviews. Give it proper attention.

Toilets and showers

• Test every toilet, tap and shower for leaks, blockages and hot water flow.
• Replace any cracked seats, broken locks or dodgy door hinges.
• Deep clean everything, including behind pipes and under sinks.
• Check ventilation fans are working and extractor vents are clear.
• Stock up on cleaning supplies, toilet rolls and hand soap for the whole season.

Electric hook-ups

• Have a qualified electrician inspect all hook-up bollards and connections.
• Test each outlet with a socket tester and check RCD trips.
• Replace any damaged or weathered covers on bollards.
• Make sure you have spare fuses and adapters on hand.

Water and waste

• Flush through all water pipes, especially if any have been drained over winter.
• Test drinking water points and check for legionella compliance if required.
• Empty and clean chemical disposal points.
• Check grey water drains are flowing freely.

If your facilities are looking tired, even small touches like a fresh coat of paint, new mirrors or better lighting can lift the whole experience for guests.

Safety and compliance

This is the bit nobody finds exciting, but it is absolutely essential. Getting your safety checks done before the rush means you are not scrambling in June.

• Fire safety. Check all fire extinguishers are in date and serviced. Make sure fire points are clearly signed. If you have a fire risk assessment, review and update it.
• First aid. Restock your first aid kit. Check expiry dates on plasters, antiseptic wipes and anything else that goes off. Make sure staff know where it is.
• Insurance. Review your public liability insurance. Make sure it covers the number of pitches you are operating and any new activities or facilities you have added.
• Gas safety. If you supply gas or have gas appliances on site, get them inspected and certificated.
• Signage. Check that all safety signs, speed limit signs and directional signs are in place and legible.
• PAT testing. If you hire out electrical equipment, make sure it has been tested.

Keep all your certificates and inspection records in one place. If a council inspector or club assessor visits during the season, you want to be able to put your hands on everything quickly.

Get your booking system ready

If you are still taking bookings by phone and scribbling them in a paper diary, peak season is where that approach starts to fall apart. Double bookings, missed deposits and lost contact details are all far more likely when you are busy.

Moving to an online booking system does not have to be complicated. A good system lets guests book and pay online, sends automatic confirmations, and gives you a clear view of which pitches are available on any given night.

Here is what to sort out before the bookings start flooding in:

• Set your seasonal pricing. Make sure peak, shoulder and off-peak rates are correct. Factor in bank holidays and school half terms.
• Review your pitch types. Are your pitch categories still accurate? If you have added hardstanding, electric hook-ups or premium pitches, update your system.
• Set minimum stays. Many sites set two or three-night minimums for peak weekends. Get these in place early so guests know what to expect.
• Check your availability. Block out any dates when pitches will be out of use for maintenance or private events.
• Test the booking flow. Go through the entire process yourself, from searching availability to receiving a confirmation email. Fix anything that feels clunky.

If you run a smaller site, such as a Certificated Location or small campsite, you might think software is overkill. But even a five-pitch site benefits from having bookings, payments and guest details in one place rather than spread across notebooks, text messages and email threads.

Guest communication

Good communication before arrival sets the tone for the whole stay. Guests who know what to expect arrive relaxed and happy. Guests who do not know where to find you, where to pitch or what time they can arrive tend to phone you repeatedly.

Set up your guest communications to handle the basics automatically:

• Booking confirmation. Sent immediately after booking. Include dates, pitch type, total cost and any deposit information.
• Pre-arrival email. Sent a few days before arrival. Include directions, arrival time, check-in instructions and anything guests need to know (site rules, dog policy, nearest shop).
• Post-stay follow-up. A short, friendly message thanking guests and asking for a review. This is how you build up your online ratings over time.

Write these once, set them up to send automatically, and they will work for you all season without any extra effort.

Marketing and visibility

There is no point having a beautifully prepared site if nobody can find it. A bit of marketing effort now pays off through the whole summer.

Update your listings

Check your listings on Google Business Profile, Pitchup, UK Campsite, the Caravan and Motorhome Club and any other directories you use. Make sure opening dates, prices, contact details and photos are all current. Outdated listings with last year's prices or old photos put people off.

Refresh your website

Update your website with current pricing, new photos if you have them and any improvements you have made to the site. If your website is several years old and not mobile-friendly, it might be time for a refresh. First impressions online matter just as much as first impressions on site.

Ask for reviews

Reviews are the single most powerful marketing tool for campsites. If you had happy guests last season, reach out and ask them to leave a Google review or a review on whichever platform matters most to you. Most people are happy to help if you ask nicely.

Social media

You do not need to become an influencer. A few posts showing your site looking its best, any new facilities or local area highlights can be enough. Share photos of spring flowers, freshly mowed pitches or a sunset over your site. Real, honest content works far better than anything polished.

Staffing and responsibilities

If you have seasonal staff, get them sorted early. Good people get snapped up quickly.

• Recruit early. Advertise for wardens, cleaners and grounds staff by March at the latest.
• Write clear role descriptions. Everyone should know exactly what they are responsible for, from cleaning schedules to check-in procedures.
• Train before opening. Walk new staff around the site. Show them how the booking system works. Make sure they know what to do in an emergency.
• Create a daily checklist. A simple list of tasks that need doing every morning (check toilets, empty bins, check hook-ups, mow if needed) keeps standards consistent even when you are not on site.

If you run the site on your own or with a partner, it is even more important to have systems in place. Automating bookings and guest emails frees up time you would otherwise spend on admin, so you can focus on the parts of the job that actually need a human touch.

Your first-week checklist

Even with thorough preparation, the first week of the season always throws up a few surprises. Here is a quick checklist to run through during your opening days:

• Walk the site first thing every morning and note anything that needs attention.
• Check all facilities twice a day (morning and evening).
• Make sure your welcome process is smooth. Greet guests, show them to their pitch, answer questions.
• Keep a notepad or phone handy to jot down anything that needs fixing or improving.
• Ask your first guests for honest feedback. They will spot things you have become blind to.
• Check your booking system is working correctly and payments are coming through.
• Review your pre-arrival emails. Did guests find the directions clear? Did they know where to go?

Treat the first week as a soft launch. Iron out the wrinkles while you are still quiet, and you will be running smoothly by the time the school holidays hit.

Start the season with confidence

Preparing for peak season is not glamorous work, but it is the foundation of a good summer. A well-maintained site, a reliable booking system, clear guest communication and a bit of marketing effort go a long way.

If you are still managing bookings manually, or you want a simpler way to handle payments, guest emails and pitch availability, give CampSuite a try. It is built specifically for UK campsites and touring parks, it is free for CL and CS sites, and it takes about 15 minutes to set up, no card needed, no long contracts, no fuss.

Get your preparation done now, and you can spend the summer doing what you got into this business for: helping people enjoy the outdoors.