Goodbye, campers: Holidays under canvas in 'terminal decline'

After pitching the tent, cooking on the gas stove and retiring to the roll-up mattress, the heavens open . . . and you lie awake in misery promising never to do it again.

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It is an experience which may help explain why, according to analysts yesterday, camping is in 'terminal decline'.

Figures released by Mintel suggest that the number of camping holidays has fallen by a fifth since 2002.

The market research company blamed the trend on 'growing affluence, a fall in the number of families and the need for camping to market itself as a leisure activity'.

Mintel predicts that within five years, the number of camping trips will slide further to 9.5million, a drop of 23 per cent.

It said the industry needed to reinvent itself and find more ' inspirational locations' near national monuments.

Richard Cope, senior travel analyst for Mintel, said: "Gone are the days when people went to the same camping destination each year.

"The British family is increasingly looking elsewhere for their holidays and often choosing self-catering flats or cottages rather than a field."

He said holiday-makers were increasingly likely to book on impulse and suggested 'lastminute.com style vacancy alerts coupled with Met forecasts' to tempt them into going camping.

The industry must also be seen to be more technologically innovative and progressive, he said.

It should target areas of special interest and sites where more regular holiday accommodation is not allowed.

"Imagine setting pitch in a beautiful vineyard or perhaps watching a sunset at Stonehenge," he said.

"This is the sort of thing that really transforms an experience."

Camping bosses argue however that their business is 'alive and kicking'.

The Camping and Caravanning club, which has 450,000 members, says its statistics show a

1.8 per cent increase on camping holidays this summer despite poor weather.

A spokesman said: "The campsites we cover were all very busy this year and eight new sites opened.

"With our membership rising year on year, I don't believe for a moment that we are finished. Another interesting point is that campers are getting younger and the average age has dropped from 55 to 49."

The spokesman said the industry had adapted well to market trends and had profited from the fashion for green tourism.

She added: "We have 4,000 sites to choose from, some in the most amazing locations and this year we opened the UK's first carbon-neutral campsite in Delamere Forest, near Chester."

A spokesman for the British Holiday and Home Parks Association, which represents 90 per cent of campsites, said the industry was in good shape.

"There were over 20million trips to holiday parks last year and most sites this summer were booked up well in advance.

"Camping is actually quite trendy at the moment and many families want to give their children a back to basics experience.

"A lot of people like to mix trips to luxurious resorts with more down to earth activities."