Chartered Accountant for Campsites (Open-Air Hospitality)

A campsite is not run like an ordinary retail business. Multi-rate revenue, a season concentrated in a few months, a fleet of mobile homes to depreciate, a tourist tax collected for the municipality: a campsite's accounting blends hospitality, catering and seasonal-operation issues. The sector sits close to hotels and restaurants, which we also support.

Four points matter in open-air hospitality accounting: VAT split, seasonality management, depreciation and margin steering.

Quick answer. A campsite is a tourism operation, classified or not, whose revenue splits across several VAT rates: accommodation (bare and rental pitches, mobile homes) falls under the reduced 10% rate if the site is classified and 20% otherwise, catering 10%, and alcoholic drinks and sundry sales 20%. The activity is marked by strong seasonality (revenue concentrated in the season, fixed costs all year), a fleet of mobile homes to depreciate over a short period, and a tourist tax collected for the municipality that is a third-party account, not income. Seasonal staff fall under the open-air hospitality collective agreement.

This is the first technical topic. A single customer invoice can mix several rates, and a poorly configured till quickly leads to wrong VAT.

• Accommodation (bare pitch, rental pitch, mobile home, light leisure dwelling): reduced 10% rate on a classified campsite, standard 20% rate on an unclassified one.
• On-site catering and sale of food to consume: 10%.
• Alcoholic drinks, sundry rentals, non-food shop sales: standard 20% rate as a general rule. Most food products sold in the shop are at 5.5%.

Good practice is to configure the till and billing to automatically allocate each service to the right rate, and to clearly break down packages (a stay including accommodation, activities, services) whose breakdown must be justifiable.

The tourist tax is not campsite income: it is a sum collected from holidaymakers for the municipality, then remitted. It must pass through a third-party account and not artificially inflate turnover. Clean accounting avoids both a profit error and a difficulty during an inspection.

The business is seasonal: most revenue concentrates in the season (often May to September), while many costs (insurance, depreciation, upkeep, supervision) run all year. Without steering, winter cash becomes a pressure point.

Our approach is to read the operation smoothed over twelve months (a monthly figure is not read raw, it is put in perspective of the season), to anticipate the low-season cash need (funding spring investments, spreading costs), and to prepare seasonal recruitment ahead. Managing seasonal payroll is a topic in its own right, with its specific contracts and hiring peaks.

The rental fleet is a campsite's main asset and its depreciation pace directly affects profit. Mobile homes and light leisure dwellings are depreciated over a short period (often 5 to 10 years), while heavy infrastructure (pool, sanitary blocks, networks, roads) is depreciated over long periods. A depreciation plan consistent with actual use and fleet renewal helps smooth profit and prepare investments.

A common case in our files: a family campsite consults us with a till that aggregates all revenue with no rate distinction, a tourist tax booked as income, and a monthly profitability reading distorted by seasonality. The work consisted of reconfiguring the VAT split, isolating the tourist tax in a third-party account, revising the fleet depreciation plan and setting up a dashboard smoothed over the season. No figure from this case can be generalised: each site has its own accommodation, catering and services mix.

• VAT split: secure the till settings for packages and mixed revenue.
• Tourist tax: treat it as a third-party account, never as income.
• Depreciation: align the rental fleet's period with its renewal reality.
• Seasonal staff: anticipate contracts and hiring peaks under the open-air hospitality agreement.

For readers who are new to the French campsite sector, a few terms deserve a short explanation:

• Hôtellerie de plein air: the French name for open-air hospitality, covering campsites, holiday parks and the rental of pitches and mobile homes.
• Classified tourism operation: a campsite that holds an official star rating (classement), the status the quick answer above refers to.
• Light leisure dwelling (habitation légère de loisirs, HLL): a chalet or similar removable unit, treated like mobile homes in the rental fleet and depreciated over a short period.
• Taxe de séjour: the tourist tax set by the municipality, collected from guests per stay and remitted to the municipality; for the campsite it is a third-party balance, never revenue.
• Third-party account (compte de tiers): the balance-sheet account through which sums collected on behalf of someone else transit before being paid over.

Every open-air hospitality business has its own activity mix, season and fleet. The starting point is a conversation about your actual situation: number of pitches, share of rentals, ancillary services, season organisation. We offer an initial meeting to frame the scope and priorities.

Updated 20 June 2026. Informative content reviewed by a chartered accountant registered with the Île-de-France Chartered Accountants Board. A decision specific to your business requires examination of your situation, your revenue and the regulations in force.