Matt Allwright and George Clarke
The 2018 Motorhome and Caravan Show closed its doors this weekend after six days of new product launches, LIVE Theatre entertainment and other attractions for all the family, making the show a destination for those looking for new leisure vehicles and holiday inspiration. Advance ticket sales were up 2.5% on last year as the show opened, and visitor figures consolidated the strong ‘buying audience’ described by exhibitors.
The annual show at the NEC, held by NCC Events, covered 11 halls of the exhibition centre. More than 96,000 visitors confirmed the show’s appeal as the one-stop destination for all the new-for-2019 leisure vehicles: over 1,000 motorhomes, touring caravans, campervans, caravan holiday homes and trailer tents, with a combined value of more than £36.5 million were displayed by more than 400 exhibitors.
Swift’s Group Commercial Director, Nick Page reported “a tremendous show for Swift with sales exceeding expectations. New and redesigned ranges performed particularly well, driven by a comprehensive package of best ever show offers along with half price insurance and low rate finance from the two initiatives Swift launched at the show: Supersure Insurance and Swift Advance.”
“We are delighted with the reception of our new caravan and motorhome ranges throughout the week,” said Nick Howard, Managing Director of Bailey of Bristol. It’s been a great place for us to meet our customers and showcase all things Bailey. The customer interest in the new PRIMA Leisure has exceeded all expectations.”
Adrian and David Cross, owners of Hillside Leisure, confirmed the strength of the show: “We are 90% up at the show on actual sales from the end of show last year to the Sunday morning this year.”
Michael Hardicker, Managing Director of Vantage Motorhomes said, “For us it’s been a very positive show. We’ve seen a good quality of visitors to the show, looking to a make a purchase, which is in-line with what we expect. There has been a nice flow of people in the week.”
Premium Motorhomes launched the new Morelo Palace Liner at the event and showed models in right-hand drive versions for the first time, taking orders for the £270,000 motorhome at the NEC. Mike Hertzberg, Managing Director of Premium Motorhomes confirmed: “We are up on show sales compared to last year, and have increased year-on-year for the last three years.”
Lunar Caravans was also satisfied with the amount of product sold during the show. Lee Roberts, Sales Director said, “our new 8’ wide Quasar product and Alaria brands were the stars of the show for us. We were also very pleased with the reception of our new campervan range, and the level of sales we subsequently achieved on this exciting new adventure.”
Harvey Alexander, Caravan and Motorhome Club Director of Marketing said, “the first day of the Motorhome and Caravan Show was Club Day and it was fantastic to welcome members to the stand, along with show visitors. Our celebrity guest, Matt Allwright, hosted a series of informative forums which were hugely popular, as were our caravan, motorhome and campervan manoeuvring sessions. We also launched the findings from our campervan survey – the chance to have a real break from the normal day to day routine on a holiday that offers spontaneity and adventure is a key reason why campervans have grown so much in popularity; the freedom to jump in the van and take off at a moment’s notice is very compelling. Many campervanners are hugely proud of their vehicles and develop a real bond with them, even down to giving their van a name!”
Simon McGrath, of The Camping and Caravanning Club, said: “This year’s show has been successful for us and a really important part of our attendance is giving all visitors to our stand a warm welcome. Our focus has been to ensure all members leave us with a smile on their face, whether they are long-standing members or have just joined at the show, and that includes giving them a complimentary cup of tea or coffee – we served up several thousand over the course of six days and it certainly goes down well.”
“It was great to welcome visitors to the show who were looking to compare and seek advice on all the new-for-2019 leisure vehicles on display. As the only new-season launch event, we had a strong show, supported by positive feedback from the exhibitors” said Jenny Summers, Group Marketing Director of the NCC.
The Motorhome and Caravan Show is at the NEC from 15 to 20 October 2019 and the Caravan, Camping and Motorhome Show from 19 to 24 February 2019.
