On the 2nd of September 2024, I had the pleasure of interviewing Mike Snijders. He and his sister, Daphne, are the co-managers and owners of Schoonenberg Camping, a natural camping site in IJMuiden, The Netherlands. There is a total of 80 pitches at the campsite, which is set in a forest, and each pitch is surrounded by trees. When it is full, there can be over 200 people there.
What keeps Mike up at night?
I asked Mike Snijders what was stressful about his work, and he said, it wasn’t actually stressful.
What are the challenges of his work?
I asked Mike what was challenging about managing the camping site, and he said it is a lot of work because he basically manages a mini village, with so many people on site.
It used to be even more work than it is now, as the toilets and showers, the plumbing and electricity had to be constantly fixed.
Fortunately the toilet block was upgraded a year ago, and now he has very little work to do in that regard.
I asked him if it was difficult dealing with the public, but he said, actually, it was a pleasure. People arrive with a smile on their face because they are on holiday and they know they are going to have a good time.
Very rarely, they have to deal with a guest having mental health difficulties, and they may need to call the police in, but this is usually only once every couple of years.
He said that in his campsite, there are over 30 different species of birds, and there are squirrels, and sometimes there is a lost deer. When there is a lost deer, they call the forester to collect the deer and put it back in its normal environment.
The biggest challenge is that of exhaustion while working on the campsite. He is fortunate in that he works together with his sister, so if one of them is too tired, they can cover for each other.
They used to wake up at 7am and start work, and it always began with cleaning the toilet block, and they had to always be available. Now they have a cleaner to carry out the cleaning. However, being available is still demanding. Over the weekend, they have one and a half days to sleep in their own bed in terms of their private life. Mike has young children, and the campsite demands invades upon his family life, and for now, he is trying to work out how to have a five to six day break together with them, because he is so busy that he can never finish a conversation.
He would need someone to manage the campsite during that time.
What are the trends for the future?
Mike said that the trends for the future are that the customers on site are asking him questions less often due to all the information available online on Google Maps. Traditionally, they used to ask him about cycling routes and where things are, but now he doesn’t need to tell them that, because it’s all available on their phones. He really enjoys interacting with the guests.
Mike says that everything changed after Covid.
The first year of Covid, everyone was scared. In March 2020, there was a big outbreak in the area, and the campsite was due to open on the 1st of April 2020. One and a half weeks before opening, they were told they were only allowed to open the campsite without toilets, so only big camper vans could be there. Then on the 16th of June, they were eventually allowed to open the toilets.
People still wore masks, but everyone went crazy because they were so happy to be able to camp again. He had the table outside for reception. Following that, camping was booming as an economy. The market is still extremely strong, which is good for them. There are more young people going camping, people in their 20s and 30s, and young couples. The younger people are quite relaxed and independent, because they are able to use their phones for information. In the past, pensioners used to go to the campsite in June, when it was quieter, but it is now so full all the time. In fact, it is fully booked. So there is no time of year for the pensioners to attend the campsites when they are not busy.
His father took over the campsite in 1996 from the council, and in 2000 he joined as a partner with his father, until his father passed away in 2001.
Mike now wants to extend the season to the end of October, because the weather is so good at the moment. They had a few bad Octobers so they had closed at the end of September, but now, due to the good weather, they want to extend the season. The new toilet building was built in March of 2023, and it has underfloor heating, which means that it’s much warmer for people to have showers and use the toilet block in the colder months. The possible plan is to open the campsite from Friday, 3pm until Sunday, 12pmthroughout winter.
They have got all the facilities, and according to other camping companies, winter camping is booming. If there is a dry weekend, everybody wants to go camping.
The camper vans nowadays are better insulated, and the tents are winter proof and have stoves to heat them up. Between Christmas and New Year, the campsites are 80% full. Nowadays there are more camper vans than tents.
Mike and his sister, Daphne, own the campsite, and they lease the grounds from the council. They are self employed. Every visitor has to pay a council tourist tax of €1.50 a night, and they have good quality guests. They don’t allow youths, because they tend to come just for drinking, so they are generally turned away.
Mike is a very self assured man, as he started working on the campsite and managing it at the age of 24 when his father took the campsite over. Initially, it had six cold taps, four toilets, and one shower. There was no reception and no electricity. There was just a shed with tools, and the council employees would go around to each of the campsites and take payments once a week.
All of the changes made to the campsite were carried out by Mike’s father, Mike and Daphne.
The trends for the future are that small camping sites are being sold to the big tourist campsites, into “campsite factories”, which means that small, unique, natural campsites like Schoonenberg, are becoming more rare and valuable.
In future Mike wants to make the reception bigger, and rebuild the camping house that he and his sister use, as it is 30 years old now.
Nowadays it is very important to have a nice website, so that has to be kept up to date, and a mobile phone so that he is constantly available to guests. He will always have a role as guests are reassured when they are welcomed by Mike and Daphne, and everyone feels welcome and well looked after.
