Wroxham Barns - One of biggest tourist attraction in Norfolk

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CShel
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Wroxham Barns - One of biggest tourist attraction in Norfolk

Post by CShel »

I have followed up a visit to Wroxham Barns with this email today, following their interest (they set up a camping site this summer)

Hello Ben (General Manager - benmarshall@wroxhambarns.co.uk )

It was good of you to let me pop in to speak with you on Monday, whilst visiting for our Christmas shopping, about motorhomers like myself. Thank you!

Since retiring from Budget Marquees 3 years ago, my wife and I have bought a Ducato based campervan, and have spent lots of our time touring the country and Europe - 6 weeks around France and Italy this Autumn!

Like others in the last few years whilst the perilous pandemic has hit us, there have been a dramatic increase in sales of motorhomes, especially for those vulnerable (retired folk), with pets, and with disabilities, as motorhomes make it especially easy to go away with everything onboard that they need, for weeks on end. Most of those who took coach and cruising holidays also seem to have bought motorhomes recently!

But there's a big problem with the infrastructure that supports motorhoming in the UK compared to abroad, where there is a huge network of Aires, Stellplatz and Sostas (dedicated stopover places in towns and villages, near to places they go to visit when touring), which also provide the services (fresh water, waste water drains, toilet drains, recycling bins...) that are needed every 3-4 days. So the 'Campaign For Real Aires' was set up to notify authorities of these needs, which are different to those of tent campers and caravaners who love staying on campsites for their holidays.

To see what CAMpRA is about please look at the website www.CAMpRA.org.uk
Go to the 'Business Hub' on the Home Page, and start by looking at two files there: 'Aires and Motorcaravans' and 'Aires and Tourism'.

Motorhomers are a category of tourist neglected by Tourist Authorities nationwide, though now, with over 25,000 members on our Facebook Group, CAMpRA has made good inroads in alerting them to the loss of tourist income that motorhomers would spend in towns and villages, if they could park up and stay nearby, like they do abroad.

Pubs have welcomed motorhomers and campervanners for ages, providing them with a good night out and a free stopover (like the pubs on the Broads do for boating people), so we at CAMpRA are looking at other places, like visitor attractions, sports and leisure clubs, garden centres, village halls, empty carparks...

And Wroxham Barns is a perfect location, too. Without much investment you could earn an extra income all year round, as motorhomers like to tour whatever the weather or season! Your shops and the cafe could benefit enormously.

Vans are well equipped with central heating, solar power, fridges, mobile wifi, as well as onboard water storage tanks, which means they only need a safe off-road parking space overnight. Electric hook up would be useful in winter, but they can manage without. Stays are usually up to 24 or 48 hours only, without 'camping' ie no deportment of outdoor chairs, tables, BBQs, generators, washing lines... until they go to a campsite for a break.

If you could provide tap water and a drive-over drain, and a separate WC point for the toilet waste, you could charge £3-5 a time for self service usage - no staff required. This would attract passing trade, too. Otherwise you could charge £10 a night in the form of a voucher that would be set against spending on site.

There are upwards of 400,000 registered 'motorcaravans' not counting 'vans with windows' in the UK, with over 2 million in Europe most of whom would certainly visit the UK when these essential services are in place.

Camping and Caravan sites have benefited enormously from staycation holidays these last two summers, so much that they now demand pre-booking and minimum stays of 2-3 nights, and high charges £25-50/night, and still close up from October to Easter - all of which is completely against the nomadic behaviour favoured by motorhomers on tour. They like to 'taste the local cuisine and culture' as they go, choosing a place at the last minute to explore the place before going off the next day.

I am now a Director of CAMpRA having joined in the summer of 2020, and have created a Motorhome Tour Route around the coast of East Anglia, which both Great Yarmouth BID and Visit East Of England are keen to support. Thus a MH stopover at Wroxham Barns would be ideal for tourism, for those local businesses so hard hit by Covid Closure, and for you!

Please give me a call to see how you start! 07xxxxx141 (Burgh Castle)
Do you now have a camping licence? We can show you how to set up a Certified Site. And how to list it and advertise it for free on several MH apps and websites that give guidance to all.

Our website docs are there for you to find out about installing facilities, parking space requirements, etc. I could bring my van along to show you what is needed, if it helps!

With best wishes for a busy Christmas Season

Charlie Shelbourne

They are very busy now with Xmas trade but there is a definite interest for the New Year, when I shall follow up, if I haven't had a response.
JLO

Re: Wroxham Barns - One of biggest tourist attraction in Norfolk

Post by JLO »

Hi Charles. I have visited Wroxham Barns several times in my Motorhome and would certainly make it a destination visit if they were to set up an Aire in their large car park, I’m happy for you to tell them that.

Just a thought maybe you could set up a poll on the Facebook group to gauge interest?
Steve
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Re: Wroxham Barns - One of biggest tourist attraction in Norfolk

Post by Steve »

Welcome back Charles, we have missed you in East Anglia.
Are you aware that we now have some excellent A5 handouts.

£2.50 for 50 from Carolyn
Steve - CAMpRA Leadership Team
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Re: Wroxham Barns - One of biggest tourist attraction in Norfolk

Post by Grey Wanderer »

In further discuss it may be pertinent to mention Gullivers Valley are setting up an Aire, Park Asterix and Disneyworld in France have Aires.
CShel
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Re: Wroxham Barns - One of biggest tourist attraction in Norfolk

Post by CShel »

Follow up, sometime later…

I emailed the new Manager, Aaron Ward, today. Aaronward@wroxhambarns.co.uk
“Hello Aaron

I visited a very empty Wroxham Barns on Tuesday afternoon, surprised at how bleak it felt, as we always pop in for pre-Christmas shopping, and usually find there’s loads of people around, and a lovely atmosphere.

I know it’s tough for hospitality and tourism businesses now after being so hard hit since Covid Lockdown, so I’d like to suggest that opening the end of your car park area to touring motorhomers would help all your shopkeepers, the farm and the cafe. Indeed you could find reasons to offer evening meals with special nights selling local produce, cooking on a BBQ, for example.

Across the country, there are now motorhomes and campervans parking up in what were empty car parks, of sports clubs, garden centres, village halls, farm shops, NT properties, overnight, on their way around the different regions ‘tasting the local cuisine and culture’ as they go. There are well over 400,000 in the country and 83% of them tour all year round. They’re not like caravanners and tent campers; these modern vans have all the mod-cons with central heating, fridges, mobile wifi, TVs, solar power, and on-board storage tanks allowing them to go off-grid and stopover on car parks like yours.

So when your tent campers have disappeared, these adventurers would keep on coming, even on damp dark nights, spending good money on both a parking place and in the shops.

I’ve been to your office to discuss this idea with a predecessor, Ben Marshall, before he set up the camping area, at great expense, no doubt, so would like to think that now you might reconsider the idea again?

I’m with an organisation called CAMpRA, which is helping local authorities to set up motorhome-only ‘Aires’ to build a supportive infrastructure for Motorhome Tourism in the UK. See www.campra.org.uk/business-hub and look at how easy it is to become legally established. We can now set you up as a certified site, exempt from planning with a 5-van exemption certificate and signage. I will gladly come over again and talk about all the benefits and requirements!

Advertising wouldn’t cost you anything; we have the SearchForSites website and app that would bring you a stream of visitors all year round, and other media connections too.

Give me a ring and let’s fix a date.

Cheers
Charles”…

+ Photo of car park at Scarborough
CShel
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Re: Wroxham Barns - One of biggest tourist attraction in Norfolk

Post by CShel »

I have a meeting with the owner, Ian Russell, on Tuesday.
“ Many thanks for your email. I am owner of Wroxham Barns (since 1982). I would be keen to meet up and discuss how this could work. Look forward to hearing from you.”
Looking forward to this!
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