Campsite owner guide

1. Claim or add your free advert

Search the directory for your campsite before creating a new listing. If it is already there, open its advert and select Claim your free listing. Follow the sign-in or registration prompts and provide the information requested to show that you own or manage the site. If your site is missing, use Add a free listing.

Go Explore reviews ownership before giving you control. Once approved, use your listing dashboard to check your description, facilities, map location, contact details and photographs. Use photographs you have permission to publish. Tell us if an existing advert needs correcting or removing.

There is no advert, claim or renewal charge. You can keep a free advert without accepting bookings through Go Explore. A directory advert does not by itself mean that your site is certified by the club.

2. Ask to join the booking pilot

Contact Go Explore with your campsite name and listing link. We will check your authority to manage the site and agree its permitted capacity before assigning booking access. Claiming an advert does not automatically open it for bookings.

Once enrolled, sign in and open My campsites. Select Manage site & bookings on the campsite you want. You can manage several campsites with one account; each has its own booking setup. If an enrolled campsite is missing, contact us to check the account assignment.

Your everyday workspace

• Today: new requests, arrivals and your next action.
• Bookings: find a guest or reference, accept requests and manage stays.
• Availability: see a week of pitches by night. Select an available night to block dates; select a booking to manage it. Departure day is available for the next stay unless another restriction applies.
• Campsite setup: pitches, campsite seasons and prices, extras, guest payments, booking terms, an optional campsite map, other booking websites and homepage spotlight.

The top of the workspace links back to your advert. Invited test owners also have Try guest booking to walk through their guest experience. Test requests are not real reservations.

3. Follow your campsite setup steps

When you first open your booking workspace, the setup guide takes you through pitches, seasons, extras, payments and terms. You can return to any step later. Finish setup marks the guide complete; Go Explore still controls entry to the booking pilot.

1. Your pitches: add one entry for each separately bookable physical pitch or accommodation unit. Give it a recognisable name, accommodation category, base nightly price, maximum guest count and minimum stay. Choose your own pitch type, such as Grass or Hardstanding, and features such as Electric or Water. These become guest filters. Set the number of people included in the pitch fee.
2. Seasons & prices: create up to four seasons for the whole campsite. One season covers all remaining dates automatically. Give the other seasons one or more date ranges, then enter each pitch’s price in the grid. You can copy prices to all pitches of the same type. Save the season plan and price grid together.
3. Extras: add electricity, extra people, pets, extra vehicles or your own named extra. Choose per item per night, per item per stay, or per extra person per night. Extra people are calculated above each pitch’s included allowance. Other required charges add one item automatically; optional extras let the guest choose a quantity. You can limit an extra to matching pitch types or a feature. Leave the list empty if everything is included.
4. Guest payments and Booking terms: enter the seller name, direct balance method, payment instructions, booking/cancellation terms and permitted occupancy limit.
5. Today or Availability: add existing direct bookings and block closed dates before inviting guests. These entries do not attract Go Explore commission.

Season dates include the first and last night. For example, Low season from 1 September 2026 to 28 February 2027 includes both those nights. Name the remaining-dates season High season: it automatically adjusts when you move Low season’s dates. Dates use the years you enter; they do not automatically repeat each year. Add next year’s ranges when you set its prices. Overlapping ranges are rejected.

New quotes use saved prices and extras. Existing bookings keep the itemised total agreed when the request was sent. Older date overrides remain in use until you save your campsite season plan, which replaces those overrides for new quotes.

Add an optional campsite map

In Campsite setup → Campsite map, upload a layout you can publish, or use the blank canvas for a simple plan. Choose a pitch or landmark and click where it belongs. Drag pitch markers or use keyboard arrows to move them. Add landmarks such as reception, showers or the entrance. Save the map and enable its guest display when ready.

Uploads accept PNG, JPEG or WebP up to 8 MB and 8000 pixels per side. The map is a visual guide, not a measured plan. It is optional: guests can always use the pitch list. A pitch can appear once on its own campsite map.

What guests see

Guests can type dates, use the date picker, or select arrival and departure on the Week or Month calendar. Green means pitches are available for that night; red means unavailable, including booked or closed nights; amber shows their selected stay; grey means past dates or availability that needs checking. Departure is not an occupied or charged night for that stay.

The calendar starts with the whole campsite. Pitch types, features and guest count narrow it. A map pitch can also narrow the calendar before dates are chosen. With dates selected, the map and pitch list show pitches available for the whole stay. Separate green nights do not guarantee that one pitch is free throughout. Minimum stays and the campsite occupancy limit still apply.

Guests see the pitch fee, required charges and selected extras before requesting. The 7.5% Go Explore deposit, when applicable, is included in this full total. The page refreshes availability every minute while open; calendar imports from other websites retain their own update timings.

4. Connect calendars if you use other booking sites

In Campsite setup → Other booking websites, match each physical pitch to its corresponding private HTTPS calendar link from your other booking system. Check the imported unavailable dates and last successful import. Use Refresh now and check your other channels before accepting a request. Go Explore targets a refresh every five minutes using a server task; your other provider controls its own update timing. The pitch is rechecked before acceptance and payment. If a connection is stale, new confirmations wait for a fresh check.

Calendar connections exchange unavailable dates. They do not synchronise prices, guest details or payments, and updates are not instant. Keep private calendar links secure. If an import fails, existing blocks are retained; investigate the failure before selling those dates. Disconnecting a calendar also retains its blocks for review.

You can create an export link for a pitch’s Go Explore availability if your other system accepts calendar imports. Creating a replacement link invalidates the old one. Direct Pitchup and Airbnb booking integrations are not connected; compatibility depends on the tools each provider makes available.

5. Choose how guests will pay your balance

Open Campsite setup → Guest payments. Select your balance method; only the relevant telephone and deadline fields are shown. Put your guest-facing payment instructions in Booking terms.

The closed pilot supports phone payments, campsite payment links and pay on arrival. Connected gateway adapters are a later addition. You will be able to offer supported options from:

• Phone: guests call your campsite using the stated number and contact hours, quoting their booking reference.
• Your payment link: guests use a secure, booking-specific payment page supplied by your own payment provider.
• Future connected gateways: payment is handled by an integration that settles directly to your merchant account.
• Pay on arrival: if you allow it, guests pay you when they arrive using the methods you specify.

Guests must know the amount, recipient, payment deadline and any immediate payment requirement before booking. Go Explore will not collect your balance. Record phone or arrival payments only after you have received them. Do not put card numbers, banking passwords or payment-provider secret keys in your listing, booking notes or contact messages.

6. Understand the booking charge

After the introductory offer, Go Explore’s commission is 7.5% including VAT, collected from the guest upfront as a deposit within your advertised price. You receive the remaining 92.5% directly from the guest. No extra 7.5% is added to the guest’s total.

Example: a £200 stay means £15 paid through Go Explore and £185 paid directly to your campsite. The £15 is Go Explore’s agreed commission; it is not charged to you again at the end of the month. Your own payment provider’s charges remain separate.

Your first 20 qualifying Go Explore bookings will be free of our commission. During that offer, the planned flow takes no Go Explore deposit and you collect the full booking price directly. The test pilot counts the first 20 confirmed Go Explore bookings per campsite. A confirmed booking uses the allowance even if it is later cancelled. These detailed terms will be reviewed before real bookings open; test-site bookings do not use a real site’s allowance.

7. How a booking will work once checkout opens

1. The guest chooses a pitch and dates and sees the full price, campsite terms and balance-payment instructions.
2. For the request-led pilot, you check availability and accept the request. A request is not a confirmed booking, and the guest is not charged while waiting for your acceptance.
3. The pitch is held while the guest pays the Go Explore deposit. A booking is confirmed only after successful payment is verified and the pitch remains available. Qualifying free introductory bookings skip the Go Explore payment step.
4. You and the guest receive confirmation showing the reference, dates, total, deposit paid or waived, balance and payment deadline.
5. The guest pays the balance directly to you by the agreed method. You keep availability and payment records up to date.

The checkout is available only to invited sandbox accounts. Qualifying introductory bookings can be tested without a payment connection; a charged test deposit needs the separate sandbox payment account. Test reservations are not real stays. Confirmation messages are queued; the Go Explore team enables delivery for the agreed test accounts. Public bookings remain closed.

Cancellations and changes

The intended policy is that the Go Explore deposit is non-refundable when a guest cancels, within the law and reasonable, clearly disclosed terms. Consumer rights remain protected. A booking that cannot be supplied as agreed, or an incorrect or duplicate payment, needs the appropriate refund or correction.

Contact Go Explore promptly if a booking cannot be honoured or its dates or price must change. We will coordinate any Go Explore deposit adjustment; you remain responsible for handling the balance you collect under the agreed terms. Cancelling a booking record does not itself refund a payment. The final pilot agreement will set out responsibilities before live bookings open.

What the current workspace can show

The setup workspace supports pitches, prices, manual reservations, date blocks and calendar connections. Under Campsite setup → Guest payments → Go Explore fees & statements, the statement records commission already collected and refunds, with no second payment due. Sandbox entries are test money, and the statement is not a VAT invoice. Direct campsite payments are recorded by the owner after receipt.

Before opening your pilot, the Go Explore team will review your setup with you and check the booking and payment journey. You do not need a Revolut account simply to keep a free advert or use phone or arrival payments; any connected campsite gateway has its own requirements.

Get discovered on the Go Explore homepage

In Campsite setup → Homepage spotlight, choose whether to join our free homepage rotation when public bookings launch. A private preview shows how your campsite could appear. Eligible participating campsites take turns; you do not need to buy a featured advert.

When a card shows available pitches, it names the dates and party size and counts pitches offered through Go Explore. Availability figures are shown only when our records are up to date. Public cards remain off during the closed test pilot.

Ask the Go Explore team for help · Back to the free listing offer

Guide updated 12 September 2026. Public bookings remain closed while the invited sandbox journey is verified.