Caravan parks to create ‘wildlife corridors’ between pitches to force Brits to keep 2m apart
CARAVAN parks and campsites are letting wild patches of tall grass grow between pitches to make sure holidaymakers stay 2m apart.
The new ‘wildlife corridors’ are one of many new features being introduced to holiday parks to follow new social distancing and hygiene guidelines during the coronavirus pandemic.
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Ros Pritchard, director-general of the British Holiday & Home Parks Association told the : “You have to have this two metres of distance so we came up with the idea that you just leave two metres unmown because that gives the visual indication of space that some people can't imagine.
"We've already done wildlife corridors on the margins and through our parks so it's just extending these to two metres.”
Other new changes include contactless check-ins, one-way systems around parks and the possibility of toilet and shower blocks staying closed while the rest of the site opens.
The Camping and Caravanning Club are hoping to open the majority of their sites on July 4, so long as the government approves.
But some campsites will open without toilets and showers, with campers allowed to pitch their own toilet tent on their allocated pitch instead.
Other changes to the Camping and Caravanning Club sites include:
- Contactless check in – the balance of any money due for your stay will be taken automatically from your account on the morning of your arrival.
- Where shower and toilet blocks are open there will be two deep cleans and four supplementary cleans a day.
- Campers will not be able to have any day visitors to their pitches
- Washing-up areas will remain open but communal areas such as receptions, shops, laundries and play areas will remain closed
Meanwhile, Haven - which owns 36 caravan parks across the UK - are introducing measures including timed slots for check-in, one-way paths and ordering food via an app.
Haven’s Director of Guest and Proposition, Gerard Tempest told Sun Online Travel: “The experience has changed from when guests first arrive at the park.
“They will be given an allocated time for arrival, so that we can meet them at the gate and allow them to bypass reception - taking them straight to their caravan where they will be given their set of keys and a welcome pack.
“Getting around will change too - in the same way that you have one way aisles at the supermarket, we’ll have that on a much bigger scale in the park."
He continued: “When it comes to cleaning, we’ll have new teams of cleaning who are regularly cleaning high-touch areas like door handles and we’ll also provide PPE to the teams cleaning the caravans.
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“Once they have finished cleaning it for a new guest, we will seal the caravan across the door and we will tell guests that if the seal is broken they should not enter.”
Some campsites and caravan parks that had planned to open on July 4 have had to cancel or pause bookings because of a lack of advice from the UK government.
Having received little communication from the government on what safety guidelines will need to be followed, businesses are now looking to push back their reopening date.