by MacHairy » Tue Aug 02, 2022 4:19 pm
Too many campervans is just one part of an overall problem which started with financial / political events which sent the value of the pound down against other currencies making it more expensive for us (Brits) to go abroad and conversely less expensive for people from abroad to come here, a double whammy, meaning more visitors from overseas AND more Brits holidaying at home. Then Covid hit, preventing anyone from going abroad for a couple of years, which meant that as soon as anyone could go on holiday again they did it here rather than abroad.
As a regular visitor to Skye and Mull in particular over the past few decades I have noticed a staggering upswing in the sheer numbers of visitors going to tourist honeypots - taking Skye alone, the road verges near the official parking for The Old Man Of Storr and The Quiraing were being all but destroyed over the past several years by a relentless tide of vehicles overflow parking on them - it went on for a few years and then the authorities finally provided more actual parking places to help with demand, but also starting charging for them.
Once tranquil paths winding up through the Fairy Pools in Skye have become ugly, eroded scars, as have the road verges nearby. In Portree, up until a few years ago I could get parked in the large free car park below the town centre at any reasonable time, lately I have found that I need to get there before about 9:30 or 10 in the morning to have any hope of finding a place.
Just back in July, I stayed (In a hotel) for half a week in the Arisaig / Morar area and I went to have an evening drive out to walk on Camusdarach beach - I ended up just driving past because every little side bubble and patch of gravel by the side of the road had a campervan parked on it. The relatively few cars among them seemed to belong to people who had just rocked up and decided to pitch a tent, anywhere they felt like it, for the night. I carried on to Morar, hoping to find it a bit more peaceful there: Same thing, the little road by the side of the beach was smothered in vehicles which didn't look like they were going to move any time soon, and there were tents on the beach and about 5-6 campfires burning on the white sand. In the end, I just turned around and headed back to base.
Staycationing is also affecting prices - I never used to have any problem finding myself a little B&B room at a reasonable price in my favourite locations, but now the same places which used to be £25 a night several years ago are asking as much as £80 a night, because they can, because a lot of the well off people for whom money and a holiday in an exotic place abroad was never any object 'discovered' Scotland, Cornwall, etc when they couldn't go abroad, and accommodation providers are naturally charging whatever the market will stand, which is good if you happen to run a hotel or B&B, but not so much if you need to stay in one at a reasonable price.