Any chance of a heatwave?

Got a call today from a holiday rep at a caravan park we stayed at last summer.

It was a direct marketing call, not a call back.

He introduced himself and asked if it was convenient to talk. I said okay.

He proceeded to explain to me how the park (Coome Haven, Hastings - pictured above) had recently undergone some improvement works - ie. the swimming pool had been expanded, a new indoor kiddies slide had been installed and if we booked now for March and April, we could get 25% of the booking price.

We'd already booked to go elsewhere in March/April, but I didn't say that and decided to let the guy finish his spiel, as he sounded young - maybe no more than 21 years old - and nervous.

Having made nervous cold calls to customers in my banking days as a fresh-faced, beardless 21-year-old I felt for him a bit. So I tried to sound interested so he could relax a little and say his piece.

Now there's a piece of advice to would-be cold-callers out there. We customers are sick of hearing the same old telephone voices cold-calling us. Try sounding nervous and earn our pity. It will do wonders for your sales revenues.

Then, I thought, I'd try to get some more information out of the guy,

I asked him where the park had got all the money for these sudden improvements. He said last year's sales revenues were higher than expected.

I then asked him what were park bookings like for March/April. He said, at the moment, they were no more than 20% full on average.

I thanked him, said it was a decent offer and asked him to send me some more information in the post.

He hung up feeling a bit happier about himself and glad that he didn't get his head chewed off by another customer unhappy at being cold-called. I hung up knowing a little more about the world, if only a little.

However, it would appear that our coastal holiday resorts are at a rather low ebb. Most people have made their spring/summer holiday plans long before mid-February.

I read only last week that record numbers of 'Brits' were planning a British summer holiday this year. I know we are. We're piling the pounds into the people's republic of Yorkshire.

Still, the offer is tempting. We could have the newly-expanded pool to ourselves.

What's the odds for a March/April heatwave?