“In the hotel sector, the shared toilet has almost completely disappeared and every hotel room has its own toilet and shower or bath. We are also going there in the camping sector…” says Erik Verwaaijen of CampPlus. It's not just 'preaching for your own parish' (CampPlus supplies private sanitary facilities): “The revenue model and the trend towards luxury play in the hand of development.”
Campers are also making increasingly higher demands
Verwaaijen was a pioneer in the Netherlands in the field of private sanitary facilities on campsites. He is now active in a very competitive market and last year there were ten 'colleagues' at the recreation trade fair with a private sanitary concept. Verwaaijen: “We have seen for years that campers have increasingly higher demands for luxury and comfort. This has led to the emergence of glamping, among other things. There is a new target group that has discovered luxury camping – and that group simply has different requirements on holiday. They don't see the charm of queuing at the sanitary block to take a shower – or at night in the dark, looking for the toilet block in your flip flops. The corona crisis has even accelerated the demand for private sanitary facilities, because guests paid extra attention to hygiene.”
You mentioned the hotel industry as an example? Verwaaijen: “I used to travel a lot in the Netherlands. Hotels usually had shared showers and toilets in the hallway. Now, 40 years later, you can no longer imagine that. I expect that private sanitary facilities will also be standard in 5-10 years and that there will be few shared sanitary facilities.”
Attractive business model
“Purchasing a private sanitary unit is also attractive for entrepreneurs.' says Verwaaijen. You can ask for a surcharge per overnight stay for the private sanitary facilities, which quickly pays for the investment – sometimes even within one year. And did you know that the search for 'private sanitary facilities' in combination with 'camping' has exploded in recent years. That is another argument to meet the increased demand from the market.”
Some camping entrepreneurs who have recently made an investment in private sanitary facilities talk about their experiences:
Michel Hermans, manager of the Drenthe campsite Westerbergen : “Although the investment in private sanitary facilities is on average higher than in shared facilities, it was an easy choice. A sanitary building costs money; private sanitary facilities earn money. Due to the higher daily rate but also the higher occupancy, you quickly recoup the investment. A camping pitch with private sanitary facilities is rented out about 30 days more per year. We looked around carefully at the available options, but in terms of price/quality ratio, the CampPlus Duo came out on top. And we already had a number of Duos, and they perform excellently.”
Looking to the future, Hermans expects the central sanitary buildings to disappear from the campsite entirely: “The rental of the 46 new pitches with private sanitary facilities is exceeding expectations. There is a lot of demand for them, and we notice that this demand is growing strongly. That is why we are already looking at when we will replace the next sanitary building with private facilities. I expect that, in the long term, we will switch entirely to private sanitary facilities.”
At RCN Het Toppershoedje, private sanitary facilities have been in use for quite some time. Roland Hoogwerf, Park Manager of RCN Toppershoedje, recently developed a completely unique version in collaboration with CampPlus: “We have had good experiences with private sanitary facilities for years. At Het Toppershoedje, we also offer refrigerator rentals. This sometimes creates dilemmas regarding the available space. That is why we asked CampPlus to include space for a refrigerator in the cabins. And because the toilet/refrigerator combination is not exactly hygienic, the toilet had to be separate from the bathroom containing the refrigerator. This has made this service unit even more attractive. It is also easier for the Technical Department that the refrigerators can always be found in the same place, with the same connections.”
According to Hoogwerf, private sanitary facilities at campsites are definitely here to stay: “Our guests appreciate the private sanitary facilities and are willing to pay extra for them. Financially speaking, the investment in private sanitary facilities pays for itself quickly, especially if you deduct the investment in a new sanitary building. And after that, the camping pitch yields much more than a pitch without private sanitary facilities.”
No shower tokens!
Many campsites are currently considering relaunching shower tokens to encourage guests to take shorter showers. "You don't have to make that consideration with private sanitary facilities." Says Verwaaijen: “Guests pay between € 7,50 and € 35, extra for the service of private sanitary facilities. It would therefore lead to irritation if you also add costs for the length of the shower. With the electric boilers you can shower for about 40 minutes. It then takes about 4 hours before the boiler is fully heated again.”
Trends in private sanitary facilities at the campsite:
- More luxurious campsites say goodbye to central sanitary buildings.
- Private sanitary facilities with a separation between shower and toilet will gain the largest market share.
- More and more other services are being linked to the private sanitary unit.
Source and more information: www.campplus.nl