The Camp of the Year designation is a prestigious status. But who awards it, on what basis and what criteria must a camp meet? The tradition of awarding the title of Camp of the Year usually falls on the campsite in Sedmihorky. There are always people on social media who share the news and like it, but also those who ask why this particular campsite. The campsite itself does not stand out much, it is not modern and the only positive aspect is the animation programs for children. So what is the reason for its popularity during the voting? Maybe it is the surrounding environment of Bohemian Paradise in which it is located, or the advertising that is available today depending on the budget. But is it right to judge a campsite and its facilities by the attractiveness and beauty of the place where it is located? Absolutely not, the campsite itself does not contribute to the region's attraction and has been there since the days of socialism.
If we take a closer look at the evaluation "authority", which is supposed to be objective, non-commercial and impartial, we may have doubts about the credibility of the announced results. dokempu.cz boasts that its survey is the most prestigious and extensive. It literally says: "Camping of the Year is the largest poll in which visitors to campsites have the opportunity to evaluate Czech and Slovak recreational areas. The voting takes place on the Dokemp.cz portal. It is not only the most popular campsites in the Czech Republic and Slovakia that are evaluated, but also the most popular campsites by region and focus. The public evaluates campsites in twelve different categories, such as active leisure, cycling, the most popular pet campsite or the most popular ECO campsite. The winner of each category is decided by the highest number of votes in that category. The campsites are also judged in two other categories, namely Jumper of the Year and Discovery of the Year. The winners in these two areas are selected by Dokemp's expert committee." However, these statements in themselves raise questions. If someone calls themselves the best and most prestigious and mentions the "expert committee", it raises doubts, which no one on social media is responding to because no one is responding to them. It is also interesting that the poll lasts only two months, during the school holidays.
So who is behind this website and the expert committee that decides the best in the categories? Dokempu, s.r.o. is a private company that is listed on the website as the operator. There are reports that the domain dokempu.cz has been purchased by another company, namely Campiri, s.r.o., with a foreign shareholding and, according to the Commercial Register, with a share capital of CZK 3,450. This information casts a shadow on the transparency of the evaluation, and the authenticity of the results of the survey cannot be reliably guaranteed by the business entity.
Some clues can also be provided by Facebook, where the Dozkempu website has its activities. Posts that are only in the lower teens within a year usually contain poll results from previous years as well as advertising. It probably comes as no surprise that the advertising posts are mostly related to selected and award-winning campsites. The Facebook profile was established in 2009 and has 9,500 followers.
It is also important to mention other business entities that award prizes almost continuously, such as the ekempy.cz website, whose database contains campsites that no longer even exist. Only 3,800 people follow this page on Facebook.
Reviews of campsites, cottages and chalets, as well as other holiday facilities, have become a real bargain. They all want to proclaim on their websites and advertising campaigns that they are the best, the nicest, the friendliest and so on. But is such a rating really meaningful when you come across information on the "best" campsite on mapy.cz about falling shutters at the cabin or mould on the mattress?
So how to objectively and unbiasedly find out the current situation in the camp? There is an independent group on Facebook called Campsites - Reviews and Experiences, which is not affiliated with any commercial entity and brings together opinions on campsites from more than 62,000 members. Any member can freely and independently post their reviews to this group, mentioning both positive and negative aspects of the campsite. As a condition, photos are also attached to better illustrate the situation. Among the group members there are also several dozen campsite operators who use inspiration and try to correct the criticised shortcomings on the basis of negative reviews. This group is a valuable source of information for both holidaymakers and operators and is not only unique in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, but also the largest in terms of the number of members and the range of reviews.
On the cnacc.eu website, there is a form that allows anyone interested in a truly objective, non-commercial and non-biased evaluation of campsites to express their opinion on their favourite campsite. A user can vote for several campsites, with the main vote going to the first one on the list. It is not possible to select only one campsite, and campsites are not easily categorized. Two different people can have completely different opinions about the same campsite.
In 2025, 12,568 visitors to the campsites voted on cnacc.eu as follows:
1. Camp Merkur, Pasohlávky
2. Camping Rožnov, Rožnov pod Radhoštěm
3. Camp Zelené údolí, Mladějov
4. Autocamp Kristýna, Hrádek nad Nisou
5. Camp Bítov, Bítov
6. Camp Vranovská pláž - Holiday park, Šumná
7. Camp U Kukačků, Horní Planá
8. Camping Ceramics Hracholusky
9. Camping Matyáš, Vrané nad Vltavou
10. Camp and apartments Mezni Louka, Hřensko
12. Camp Zvíkov Village, Zvíkovské podhradí
13. Safari Camp, Dvůr Králové nad Labem
14. Camp Stříbrný rybník, Hradec Králové
This information should also be considered as indicative and does not imply that the order given is suitable for everyone. In the coming year, the organizers of some camps will try to set up online voting where every campsite visitor will have the opportunity to add their vote, which will be immediately included in the overall results. This system is clear and transparent. Furthermore, everyone will be able to see the actual poll results in real time. A social media poll asking "Do you trust the ratings of campsites by commercial entities?" revealed that more than 80 % respondents have no confidence in such ratings, which makes it very strange that the result of a "Camp of the Year" poll, organized by a commercial entity with an unclear background, is being disseminated by other media without verification. It should be the media's job to provide only transparent information.
Hopefully we will see a poll next year that is credible, believable and acceptable. Let's keep our fingers crossed.
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