The UK motorhome boom in 2026: what the numbers really mean for motorhome site owners

Picture this: it's seven o'clock on a Friday evening in June. A twenty-pitch motorhome site a few miles from a market town in the Cotswolds has been full for three days. The phone keeps ringing: a Dutch couple asking whether they can pay by card, a family from Leeds who found the site on an app and want to book the weekend, a German motorhome owner off the ferry asking if there's a pitch tonight. The owner looks at the paper booking diary on the counter and thinks: "There must be a better way to run this."

Plenty of UK site owners will recognise the scene. Since 2020 everyone has talked about the "motorhome boom". But in 2026 the honest question is a different one: is the boom still going, and what does it mean for anyone who runs, or wants to open, a motorhome site?

In this article we look at the real numbers, including the ones that are less flattering, and what you can do to turn them into more bookings, more revenue and more stability for your site.

Motorhome registrations: a record level, but no longer growing

Let's start with the facts, because "boom" is a word that gets used very easily.

According to the European Caravan Federation (ECF), the UK registered approximately 16,700 new motorhomes in 2025, up around 1.3% on 2024. That makes the UK the third-largest motorhome market in Europe, after Germany (75,368) and France (26,335).

To put that in context, the National Caravan Council (NCC), using DVLA data, reported:

• 4,798 new motorhomes registered in 2000;
• 15,342 in the twelve months to June 2019, the pre-pandemic record;
• 16,608 between July 2020 and June 2021, a new record at the time, driven by lockdowns and "social distance by design" holidays.

So the picture is clear: new motorhome registrations have more than tripled since 2000, jumped during the pandemic, and in 2024 and 2025 have held at around 16,500 to 16,700 a year. That's a very high level, but it's a plateau, not a boom. Anyone telling you the market is still growing at double digits is looking at old data.

Two more details from the ECF are worth knowing:

• Caravans are falling fast. New caravan registrations in the UK dropped by around 19% in 2025 to about 9,250. Total leisure vehicle registrations fell by around 7% to just under 26,000.
• The shift towards motorhomes is structural. In 2025 the UK registered about 80% more motorhomes than caravans, a shift the ECF describes as particularly pronounced in the UK.

For a site owner, that second point matters. A motorhome guest is not a caravan guest: they arrive and leave more freely and care a lot about the service point (water, grey water and cassette emptying), hardstanding and easy check-in.

Staycations: the pandemic wave has receded

The other half of the story is demand. Here the numbers are less exciting, and it's better to know them.

According to VisitBritain's annual results, published on 11 June 2026:

• British residents made 87 million overnight trips in England in 2025, down 3% on 2024 and below 2023 and 2022;
• spending on those trips rose 6% to £29 billion, with an average of £333 per trip;
• the share of trips including a hotel stay rose to 40%.

And for our sector specifically, VisitBritain's 2024 report noted that the number of trips including a stay in a "caravan / camping / glamping" fell compared with both 2023 and 2022.

Meanwhile, Britons are travelling abroad again. The ONS estimates that UK residents made 99.9 million visits abroad in 2025, spending £86.2 billion (these are "official statistics in development", so treat comparisons with care). Overseas residents made an estimated 40.8 million visits to the UK.

What does this mean in plain English? The "staycation" effect of 2020 to 2022 is over. Fewer domestic trips, more trips abroad, more competition from hotels. If your business plan assumes that demand will keep rising on its own, it's time to revise it.

So where is the opportunity?

If the market isn't growing, why talk about opportunity at all? Because the numbers that matter for a site owner are not the same as those that matter for a dealer.

1. The vehicles are already on the road. Every year another 16,000-plus new motorhomes join those already in use, and each one needs somewhere to stop, fill up with water and empty its cassette. Demand for good pitches doesn't depend on new sales growing: it depends on the fleet being used.

2. Touring guests spend well. The UK Caravan and Camping Alliance's 2024 Pitching the Value report, presented by the NCC, estimated that holiday parks and campsites generate £12.2 billion in visitor spending a year and £7.2 billion of gross value added, supporting 226,745 full-time jobs. Touring visitors and holiday caravan owners spend just over £100 a day on and off site, and visitors to parks stay 82% longer and spend 12% more than the national tourism average. A new edition of the study is due in 2027.

3. Spending per trip is rising. Fewer trips, but higher spend per trip (+9% in England in 2025). Guests are more selective: they choose fewer, better places. That rewards sites with good facilities, clear information and frictionless booking, and penalises the rest.

Let's do the maths with a purely hypothetical example. Imagine a site with 20 pitches, 60% average occupancy over the six warmest months and an average price of £22 a night. That's about 2,180 pitch-nights and around £48,000 of direct revenue. Not bad, but it's only the tip of the iceberg: the money those guests spend in local pubs, shops and attractions is a multiple of that. It's exactly the argument that persuades local councils to support touring tourism. For your own numbers, see motorhome site profitability in 2026.

The rules are changing: more competition, more costs

Policy has also moved in the last three years, and not always in favour of established sites.

More competition from pop-ups. Since July 2023, landowners in England can run a temporary campsite for up to 60 days a year with up to 50 pitches without planning permission (Class BC of the General Permitted Development Order). Since 1 June 2026, Wales has a similar 60-day right (28 days in National Parks, National Landscapes and World Heritage Sites). Motorhomes can use these pitches, although the site licensing rules still apply. For established sites, it means more summer competition at the peak.

Visitor levies are arriving.

• Scotland: Edinburgh's 5% visitor levy has applied since 24 July 2026, including paid tent and campervan pitches. VisitScotland lists Glasgow (5%, from January 2027), Aberdeen (7%, from April 2027), Stirling (3%, from June 2027) and West Dunbartonshire (5%, from July 2027).
• Wales: every visitor accommodation provider, campsite pitches included, must join the national register by 31 March 2027. The levy is optional for each council: Cardiff starts on 1 April 2027. Motorhomes and campervans on pitches pay the higher rate of £1.30 per person per night.
• England: in September 2026 the government confirmed it will legislate to let mayors introduce an overnight visitor levy, as a percentage of the accommodation cost. Tent and touring caravan pitches could be exempted locally.

We explain all of this in detail in our guide to motorhome site regulations in the UK. For the business side, the message is simple: more admin per booking, and guests who compare total prices more carefully.

Who are your guests (and what they expect)

The motorhome owner of 2026 isn't just the retired couple who leave in May and come back in September. The audience has diversified, and this is good news if you adapt.

Picture this: it's a Wednesday in October. A white campervan pulls in. Two thirty-somethings, both working remotely, laptops in their rucksacks. The first thing they ask is the Wi-Fi password. They'll stay three nights, work in the mornings and cycle in the afternoons. The following weekend a family arrives with two children and a dog in a brand-new motorhome: they want to know where the nearest playground is and whether dogs are welcome. And on Monday a German couple off the ferry, who booked online at midnight and expect to pay by card without speaking to anyone.

These are hypothetical scenes, but every site owner will recognise them. Three types of guest, three sets of expectations:

• the remote worker needs reliable connectivity and quiet;
• the family wants facilities, safety and things to do nearby;
• the overseas visitor wants to book in advance and pay digitally, in a language they understand.

If you can speak to all three, your site can work far more than six months a year.

Off-season: the real growth lever

For years, running a site in the UK meant opening at Easter and closing in October. That's still the norm for many small sites: the Camping and Caravanning Club notes that its certificated sites usually open from March to October, although they can operate year-round if properly designed and maintained.

Hypothetical example: a site near a spa town that used to close at the end of October tries staying open in winter, with a 30% lower price, hardstanding pitches and an agreement with a local pub. In this example, even 20% to 25% occupancy from November to March would help cover fixed costs and keep regular guests coming back. It won't make anyone rich, but the winter stops being a loss.

For a site owner, extending the season doesn't mean expecting full pitches in February. It means fewer months with zero revenue, reasons to visit out of season and a base of loyal guests who come back several times a year.

Five practical actions for a plateau market

The numbers say the market is big and stable, not growing. That means the extra bookings have to come from other sites, not from new demand. Here are five things you can do.

1. Make your site bookable and payable online. A Dutch or German visitor won't phone you to book: they'll look for your site on an app, check photos, facilities and prices, and want to book in thirty seconds. If your site isn't bookable, for that guest it doesn't exist. And if you rely only on a platform for bookings, you're handing margin to intermediaries.

2. Invest in the service point. It's your calling card. A clean emptying point, a working tap and a clearly signed grey water drain generate good reviews, and good reviews generate bookings. A neglected one is the fastest way to collect reviews that follow you for years.

3. Build links with the local area. Talk to the pubs, the farm shops, the walking guides. Give guests a curated map of the area, not a generic leaflet. Every pound guests spend thanks to your tip strengthens the link between your site and the local economy, and that's your best protection against anyone who sees you as "just a car park".

4. Plan the off-season now. Don't wait until September to decide what to do in winter. Plan seasonal prices, offers for the shoulder months and agreements with businesses that work all year. Even two extra months a year make a real difference to the annual accounts.

5. Automate everything you can. Manual check-in, cash handling, paper registers and messages to guests one by one eat your time and expose you to mistakes. With visitor levies, guest records and a more demanding customer, the question isn't whether you'll have more admin, but how you'll handle it. An automated system for access, payments and check-in is what separates a site that grows from one that drowns in its own success.

The market isn't growing: the best sites are

The UK motorhome market isn't a bubble, but it's no longer a boom either. It's a large, mature market sitting on a high plateau: about 16,700 new motorhomes a year, a clear shift away from caravans, domestic trips falling, spending per trip rising, and new rules that bring both competition and costs.

For a site owner, that's not bad news. In a market that isn't expanding, the guests go to the sites that are easiest to find, book and use. Those that still rely on the paper diary and cash only risk being left behind.

The good news is that you don't need to change everything at once. You need a clear idea of where you want to go and the right tools to get there. If you're starting from scratch, our guide on how to start a motorhome site walks you through it step by step.