Fully booked - the campsite in Kassel is currently packed.

"On Maundy Thursday alone we had 40 arrivals," says camp manager Anna Lück.

Up to 20 requests had to be rejected at Easter.

Even at Pentecost, the Kassel Camping & Motorhome site is already fully booked.

The operator Kassel Marketing only keeps a few places for spontaneous travelers.

Why is this form of vacation so popular?

Lück suspects that the feel-good factor plays a major role.

"Unlike in a hotel, you have your own bed and your home with you." In addition, traveling in a caravan or mobile home is very relaxed.

“You can take a leisurely break on the way and eat something in peace.” Lück says that there is currently no sign of a drop in demand due to high fuel prices or the war in Ukraine.

“At the beginning of the war in February, booking requests decreased slightly.

But after about two weeks they were back to a normal level with 10 to 15 requests per day.”

“2020 was a very strong year”

The Camping Park Hammelbach in the Odenwald is already well booked for the season, reports Corinna Hörr.

She runs the place together with her husband and mother-in-law.

“At the moment we have a lot of reservations for this year.

We have already had to issue around 50 rejections.”

Thanks to the camping boom, her park has survived the past two years of the pandemic well.

“2020 was a really, really strong year with great weather.

In the end, we feel like we made up for the lost seven weeks at the beginning of the season.” The previous year also went quite well despite the bad weather.

Hörr is now looking forward to a season without corona restrictions.

"We are very relieved that the obligation to wear masks and tests is no longer required.

That was an enormous amount of bureaucracy.”

Stefan Götze from Seecamping Mainflingen in Mainhausen (Offenbach district) is also happy about this.

"We had huge additional expenses, for example for security and cleaning staff," says the groundskeeper.

Nevertheless, business has been good over the past two years.

And it keeps getting better.

“The order books are fuller than ever.

We have no reason to complain.” So far, neither the Ukraine war nor the high fuel prices have had a negative impact.

reduce weight and speed

Katharina May-Bussmann and her husband Michael Bussmann, who run the Fuldaschleife campsite in Guxhagen (Schwalm-Eder district) together with two business partners, report the same thing.

It's their first season, they've only been leasing the pitch since the beginning of the year.

"I think many people are already considering whether they should drive to southern Spain under these conditions or whether they'd rather stay in Germany," says May-Bussmann.

The booking situation is correspondingly good.

"People are just happy to be able to get out and live out their regained freedom in nature."

The ADAC Hessen-Thüringen also confirms the unbroken demand for camping.

"We are not seeing any decline in booking requests for mobile homes or camping information, despite the increased fuel prices," says Andrea Schumacher, Team Leader Tourism.

According to Pincamp, the automobile club's online camping portal, demand is still high, especially around Easter and Pentecost.

Most places in the popular tourist regions of Germany are already fully booked.

"What we have noticed, however, is that demand has shifted to nearby places, i.e. to more easily accessible destinations in the region or in neighboring countries."

In order to save on fuel costs, Schumacher advises reducing speed, driving with foresight and comparing fuel prices.

In addition, travelers should reduce the weight of the vehicle, for example by emptying the waste water tank before longer journeys and only taking as much fresh water with them as necessary.

The tire pressure should also be checked before driving: "Too little pressure on the tires increases rolling resistance and thus fuel consumption."