The Quiet Site is shouting loud about increasing bookings with Guestlink

There is now more choice for customers looking to book affordable holiday accommodation.

Campsites and Holiday Parks are now using Guestlink, the online booking solution and property management system (www.guestlink.co.uk), up and down the length of the UK, giving customers the choice and flexibility to choose the type of accommodation they want for their holiday.

Daniel Holder, the owner of The Quiet Site (www.thequietsite.co.uk), stated, "We are a medium size holiday park situated in the Lake District with 125 pitches, and we serve the Camping, Caravanning and Motorhome markets. We have operated as a family owned and operated business since the 1950's."

"We have just recently added to our offer by providing Camping Pods to our visitors with great success - all bookable online. Our business is all about sustainability. For instance, 80% of the water here is heated through solar and biomass heating, and we recycle the water that we treat. All of the flushed toilet water is recycled water."

"We have a very high rate of repeat business, with 84% having been to our site before. We have third generation campers here, campers who have been here when they were kids. The family market is very important to us and makes up over 65% of our visitors. The process for booking their holiday needs to be easy, and now using Guestlink it is."

"About 60% of all of our bookings are through the internet, and we manage all of our bookings through Guestlink. We started to use Guestlink last year, having previously never offered online booking. We are really pleased we went with Guestlink and it has brought in great business for us."

Statistics show that more and more people are making their accommodation bookings directly online, a trend that is set to continue - highlighting the importance of providing online booking to prospective and returning visitors.

The Quiet Site uses Guestlink not only for taking bookings on their own website, but also for taking bookings through other channels, including the official Cumbria Tourism Website (www.golakes.co.uk).

Rachel Stott, Web Sales & Marketing Manager for Cumbria Tourism said, "We are delighted that online booking for campsites has been such a success and we hope to roll this out to more campsites in order to give customers as much choice as possible when booking on Golakes. With an average of 14,000 people visiting the 'pitch it' section of the website each month, there is a real appetite out there to be able to book online. The statistics show that those offering online booking are getting great results. To advertise your campsite on Golakes it only costs £50+VAT and 10% commission on any bookings made, this is a really cost effective way of increasing bookings for your campsite."

Mr Holder said, "Online booking gives us the added advantage of taking reservations on a 24/7 basis whilst freeing up time normally spent on the telephone."

Nowadays, online room reservations are no longer the preserve of large hotels and tour operators. The development of Guestlink's easy-to-use online booking service ensures that the smallest of bed and breakfast, self-catering establishments and Caravanning and Camping sites can now jump on the e-commerce bandwagon.

It is apparent there has been a shift in public perceptions of camping and caravanning as well as in the way in which the industry promotes itself. Using Guestlink to allow visitors to book anything from a camping pod to a pitch gives the choice to the holiday maker that they need, all at their fingertips.