Mark Hammerton Travel

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Mark Hammerton Group logo Mark ham travel.jpg
Mark Hammerton Group logo

Mark Hammerton Group Ltd was a UK-based travel organiser and travel publisher specialising in camping, caravanning, motorhome and mobile home holidays on campsites in France, Spain, Italy and other European countries. The Group published the market-leading Alan Rogers campsites guides and offered a European travel service for readers including ferry bookings. The Group was acquired by The Caravan Club in 2012 under the brand Alan Rogers Travel Group, along with its subsidiary company Belle France, which offers walking and cycling hotel holidays.

Contents

Company history

Mark Hammerton Travel Ltd was launched in 1999. The directors, including Mark Hammerton himself, had years of experience working for established camping holiday operators and the first tour operating programme featured pre-sited tents and mobile homes in France and a pitch and ferry reservation service for readers of the (then) independent Alan Rogers guides.

A year later, the company became the exclusive UK agent for Camping Cheque, the UK's leading low season holiday product for independent campers and caravanners and in October 2001 the newly named, Mark Hammerton Group, acquired the company behind the Alan Rogers campsite guides. First published in 1968, the guides were already established as the leader in the UK campsite guide market.

In September 2002 the Group formed a Dutch subsidiary and opened a small office near Amersfoort in the Netherlands to promote sales of the Alan Rogers campsite guides in the Dutch language.

A month later followed the acquisition of another tour operator, the cycling and walking holiday specialist Belle France.

In October 2004, following another year of rapid growth in Camping Cheque sales, the Group acquired a minority stake in French campsite organisation, Kawan Group.

2005 saw the launch of Alan Rogers Marketing in the Netherlands with this office becoming focused on only sales of promotional products and marketing services to European campsites.

In 2006, the Group introduced websites aimed at direct ferry sales and direct holiday insurance sales for campers and caravanners. The company also launched the UnityPlus card, a discount scheme for holidaymakers owning a tent, caravan or motorhome.

2007 saw the company's busiest year ever for Camping Cheque sales.

In 2012, the company was acquired by The Caravan Club under the brand name Alan Rogers Travel Group.

Brands

Alan Rogers Guides

Alan Rogers Guides are a popular campsite guide featuring a selection of the best, inspected and selected campsites in Europe. Aimed at the British and Dutch markets of tent, caravan and motorhome owners, there are separate guides for Britain and Ireland, France, Spain and Portugal, Italy and Central Europe and a Europe-wide guide.

Alan Rogers Travel Service

Alan Rogers Travel Service is a holiday booking service for readers of the Alan Rogers Guides. Camping, caravanning and mobile home holidays can be booked on campsites in France, Spain, Italy, The Netherlands and other countries in Europe.

Belle France

Belle France is a hotel-based walking and cycling holiday programme with maps and notes provided to find your way from hotel to hotel (bag transfers are arranged for you). These are soft adventure holidays or activity holidays with the benefit of comfortable hotels and fine cuisine at the end of each busy day.

Insure4Campers

Insure4Campers was a specialist travel insurance product aimed at the camping holiday market. Travel insurance was offered to cover the specific risks associated with tent, caravan or motorhome holidays in France and Europe generally. Single trip and annual travel policies were offered. This product is no longer available.

Ferries4Campers

Ferries4Campers was a dedicated ferry booking website for caravanners and motorhome owners looking for cheap ferry crossings to France. The product is no longer available.

UnityPlus Card

The UnityPlus Card was a discount card offering savings and benefits to campers and caravanners. Aimed at anyone with a tent, caravan or motorhome the discount scheme featured special offers from major camping brands. This product is no longer available.

Joint Venture

Create Digital Media Ltd

Create Digital Media Ltd was founded in early 2011 as a joint venture between Mark Hammerton Group and the company's founders. The mobile app development company specialised in creating iPhone and Android apps and in electronic publishing activities for Mark Hammerton Group and 3rd party companies and organisations.

As part of the acquisition by The Caravan Club in 2012, it was announced in October 2014 that Create DM would be winding down its operations. The company was shut down shortly after and app development was passed over to 3rd party companies.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Camping</span> Outdoor recreational activity

Camping is a form of outdoor recreation or outdoor education involving overnight stays with a basic temporary shelter such as a tent. Camping can also include a recreational vehicle, sheltered cabins, a permanent tent, a shelter such as a bivy or tarp, or no shelter at all. Typically, participants leave developed areas to spend time outdoors, in pursuit of activities providing them enjoyment or in a form of educational experience. Spending the night away from home distinguishes camping from day-tripping, picnicking, and other outdoor activities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Campsite</span> Place used for overnight stay in the outdoors

Campsite, campground, and camping pitch are all related terms regarding a place used for camping. The usage differs between British English and American English.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Recreational vehicle</span> Types of vehicles

A recreational vehicle, often abbreviated as RV, is a motor vehicle or trailer that includes living quarters designed for accommodation. Types of RVs include motorhomes, campervans, coaches, caravans, fifth-wheel trailers, popup campers, and truck campers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caravan (trailer)</span> Type of vehicle

A caravan, travel trailer, camper, tourer or camper trailer is a trailer towed behind a road vehicle to provide a place to sleep which is more comfortable and protected than a tent. It provides the means for people to have their own home on a journey or a vacation, without relying on a motel or hotel, and enables them to stay in places where none is available. However, in some countries campers are restricted to designated sites for which fees are payable.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Campervan</span> Type of vehicle

A campervan, also referred to as a camper, caravanette, motorhome or RV in North America, is a self-propelled vehicle that provides both transport and sleeping accommodation. The term describes vans that have been fitted out, whereas a motorhome is one with a coachbuilt body.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Motorhome</span> Type of vehicle

A motorhome is a type of self-propelled recreational vehicle (RV) which is as the name suggests, like a home on wheels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RV park</span> Place where people with recreational vehicles can stay

A recreational vehicle park or caravan park is a place where people with recreational vehicles can stay overnight, or longer, in allotted spaces known as "sites" or "campsites". They are also referred to as campgrounds, though a true campground also provides facilities for tent camping; many facilities calling themselves "RV parks" also offer tent camping or cabins with limited facilities.

The Caravan and Motorhome Club is an organisation representing caravan and motorhome users in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was founded in 1907 and now represents nearly one million members.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Airstream</span> American brand of caravan

Airstream is an American brand of travel trailer easily recognized by the distinctive shape of its rounded and polished aluminum coachwork. This body shape dates back to the 1930s and is based on the Bowlus Road Chief, an earlier model of the all-aluminum travel trailer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adria Mobil</span>

Adria Mobil is a company based in Novo Mesto, Slovenia, that produces caravans and motorhomes, under the brand name Adria and sells 99 percent of its total turnover to western European markets. Adria motorhomes are commonly based on Fiat and Mercedes vehicles.

Alan Rogers was one of the major personalities whose work created the camping, caravanning and motor caravan industry. After service in the British RAF in the Second World War, Alan devoted his post-war leisure time to his twin passions of rallying and caravanning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alan Rogers Guides</span>

Alan Rogers Guides is a campsite guide publisher. It was started in Britain in 1968 by camp enthusiast Alan Rogers. The guides aim to place enhance the quality of the campsites; campsites cannot pay to be in the guide. Travel guides have been published every year since 1968. In 2018, Alan Rogers Guides celebrated its 50th anniversary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Camping and Caravanning Club</span> United Kingdom camping organisation

The Camping and Caravanning Club is a not-for-profit membership organisation for camping and caravan enthusiasts in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1901, and has over 730,000 members.

A motorhome hire agency or campervan hire agency is a type of vacation rental company, which hires privately-owned motorhomes or campervans to customers. The practice is common in the United Kingdom, where several agencies dominate the market, and has more recently gained popularity in the United States.

Eurocamp is a British holiday company based in Cheshire that provides pre-sited outdoor holidays in Continental Europe. The company works with third party partner campsites and holiday villages to offer beach, city and countryside holidays to approximately 180 parks in Europe, including in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg and Croatia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canvas Holidays</span>

Canvas Holidays is a company which offers camping holidays across Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tripcony Hibiscus Caravan Park</span> Historic site in Queensland, Australia

Tripcony Hibiscus Caravan Park is a heritage-listed caravan park at Bowman Road, Caloundra CBD, Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1912 onwards. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 3 April 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cotton Tree Caravan Park</span> Historic site in Queensland, Australia

Cotton Tree Caravan Park is a heritage-listed caravan park at Cotton Tree Parade, Cotton Tree, Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 3 April 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indie Campers</span> European RV rental company

Indie Campers is a motorhome rental company, operating in the Europe, North America and Oceania, with its own fleet of over 7000 vehicles distributed by more than 70 locations in Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Croatia, United Kingdom, Belgium, Switzerland, Republic of Ireland, Sweden, Austria, Iceland, Denmark, Norway, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and in the United States. In addition to its own fleet, Indie Campers has a campervan Marketplace with more than 2000 vehicles from private hosts.

References