Exmoor national park is anticipating that this year will see large numbers of day visitors – with the pressure ‘particularly acute’ during the Easter holidays, a meeting of the park’s authority will be told.

When the Government’s stay-at-home message ends, retail, hospitality and outdoor attractions will have yet to re-open, and will not do so until April 12 at the earliest in the roadmap out of lockdown.

With families or groups of up to six people able to travel, the national park is expecting large numbers of day visitors, who may well come from further afield than they would normally, starting from Easter onwards.

It follows 2020’s visitor numbers being unusually high, and significant numbers of people who had not visited Exmoor before which caused extra pressure on facilities.

Rob Wilson-North, head of conservation and access, in a report to the forthcoming park authority meeting on April 6, said that during 2021 the park is likely to become extremely busy with visitors, and a ‘management and engagement plan’ has been prepared to cope with the demand.

“This will help ensure that all visitors have a positive experience and that Exmoor’s special qualities are protected.

“The combination of lockdowns, changing government guidance, good weather and new visitors meant that the pattern of visits to Exmoor changed rapidly, requiring a dynamic, reactive response.

“Exmoor’s approach was to close its national park centres, keep open its car parks and public facilities, with extra safety measures in place, and to double its weekend presence on the ground by redeploying staff.”

Mr Wilson-North, in the report, said they had tried to learn lessons from 2020 and were building an approach that was fundamentally based on last year’s, but which built in more resilience.

He added: “We envisage that 2021 will see particularly large numbers of day visitors, who may well travel from further afield than they would normally.

“We anticipate that, without positive intervention, many people, particularly campers and motorhome users, may arrive without pre-booked accommodation, only to find that none is available.

“We intend to use a website and social media presence, as well as leaflets, temporary signage and face-to-face engagement to manage these issues.

“Our regular practice is to have a ranger presence on the ground during weekdays and a duty ranger at weekends.

“During 2020, we redeployed staff to respond to increased visitor numbers and in 2021 we will ensure adequate routine presence on the ground and build in resilience in order to help manage increased numbers of visitors, staff absences and leave.

“This capacity will give us a presence that enables us to properly manage visitors and the infrastructure they use. We assume that 2021 will provide a unique opportunity to engage with audiences that never normally visit national parks.”

The authority will be recommended to approve the overall approach to visitor management and engagement.