How Yorkshire farms can benefit as staycation boom looks set to stay

The growing popularity of agritourism is also being felt at the farm gate with one dairy farmer having achieved £140,000 in bookings so far this year – double the revenue the campsite had generated by the same point last year.

Pitchup.com’s most popular pop-up farm campsite, operating under the new 60-day Permitted Development Regulations (PDR), has so far taken £63,000 in bookings, also trouncing last year’s sales.

But Pitchup.com founder Dan Yates said the number of pop-up sites listed on the platform was down 10 per cent so far this year compared to last and that farmers could be missing out on a growing opportunity to generate significant extra revenue from little extra work.

He said: “The pandemic sparked a resurgence of interest in holidaying in the British countryside and...the impact of that is continuing to endure.

“Nowhere is this more evident than in the agritourism sector, which has grown year-on-year since the pandemic, and shows no sign of slowing down.

“In fact, the opposite is true. Our farm filter has seen a 266 per cent increase in use this year compared to last, meaning thousands of people are wanting to spend their holidays on working farms. For those farms capitalising on tourism, the sector is delivering big returns which are increasingly becoming a vital part of the farm business mix. And there’s huge potential in the marketplace for new entrants to get involved.”

Mr Yates said UK holidaymakers were still eager to visit the British countryside despite foreign destinations having been accessible again for more than three years.

“Rumours of the staycation’s death have been greatly exaggerated. Farmers and landowners continue to be in a unique position to capitalise on this and help meet the rising demand. Not only will this provide extra income for their businesses, it plays an increasingly important role in creating sustainable rural communities as tourists spend in the local area.”

Mr Yates added that setting up a camping site is one of the quickest, easiest and cheapest forms of farm diversification, yet still has the potential to generate significant extra income.

The most back-to-basics temporary sites often only need running water and toilets to operate, but generate on average around £13,000 per season.

In England, there is potential to earn far higher sums without the farmer or landowner needing to apply for extra planning permission via PDR pop-up campsites.

However, adding more facilities, glamping opportunities and caravan pitches, or securing planning permission to operate all year round can transform a small diversification project into a business turning over hundreds of thousands of pounds per year.