Final press release: CARAVAN SALON DÜSSELDORF reflects Boom on the Caravanning Market

The organisers at CARAVAN SALON could not have wished for a better birthday present: Coinciding with its 50th anniversary the No. 1 trade fair for motor homes and caravans was the busiest event in its history. On top of this, exhibitors delighted at another increase in sales. Taking an extremely positive stock Managing Director at Messe Düsseldorf Joachim Schäfer said: “Registering 179,000 visitors, this year’s CARAVAN SALON has by far exceeded our expectations of over 160,000 visitors. And the international spread of visitors was also very high again. Trade visitors came here from around the globe particularly to meet their business partners and gather information on innovations.” Schäfer went on to explain “This year 62% of visitors came with specific intentions to buy. This is particularly positive because CARAVAN SALON DÜSSELDORF is considered a barometer for the coming season. The positive response to this year’s CARAVAN SALON demonstrates the popularity of caravanning as a holiday-making format – one that combines individuality and independence with environmental compatibility and activities in nature and one that reflects and benefits from current megatrends in society.”

Klaus Förtsch, President of the German Caravanning Industry Association, was also extremely satisfied with the outcome of the trade fair: “We have been pleasantly surprised by the high popularity of the event amongst visitors and their propensity to buy. Traditionally, some 15% of annual sales are effected at the CARAVAN SALON and in the premium segment this figure is actually significantly higher. This is why this trade fair sends out an important signal.” Already in the first six months of 2011 sales in the German caravanning sector were up by 27% to Euro 3.08 billion. “We consider the results of the trade fair clear proof of the continued avid interest taken in caravanning as a holiday format. Both caravans and motor homes in particular benefit from this. With the good results obtained at the trade fair, the 2010/2011 season draws to a very promising close,” said Förtsch.

This positive summary was also unanimously confirmed by the exhibitors at the CARAVAN SALON DÜSSELDORF 2011, who – without exception – reported strong interest and increased sales. Hermann Pfaff, Board Member at HYMER AG, found that this year’s CARAVAN SALON motivated dealers for the autumn season due to the high demand while giving the manufacturers tailwind for the coming season.

The talks at the fair met with a unanimously positive response. Dr. Holger Siebert, General Manager at Eura Mobil GmbH, explained: “Visitors are well informed and know exactly what they want. Our impression is that a certain reticence to buy felt last year has now vanished because we have sold significantly more vehicles in all segments while registering lower financing needs.” Giovanni Marcon, Chairman of the Board at Knaus Tabbert GmbH, also confirmed less discount negotiating and higher sales figures: “Sales volume overall has risen considerably with a clear improvement in favour of motor homes, without caravans suffering.”

Achim Sach, Senior Vice President at Alois Kober GmbH, noted strong interest taken by both visitors and the media in the hybrid concepts debuted at CARAVAN SALON. He felt that visitors were interested in green technologies and were gathering information on what would be feasible over the next few years and at what price. Sach went on to say that they had had very good talks also with international customers from throughout Europe.

In the field of tourism increased visitor numbers also translated into a higher movement at the stands. Heidrun Müller, operator of the Campingpark Gitzenweiler Hof in Lindau, delighted at the noticeably increased demand over the previous year: “This year we had a striking number of new visitors primarily interested in planning their vacation for the next year. Some even took a last-minute decision to attend our beer festival in autumn,” she said.
The next CARAVAN SALON DÜSSELDORF will be held in Düsseldorf from 24 August (trade visitor and media day) to 2 September 2012. The “caravanning design award: innovations for new mobility” will then be presented for the sixth time.


4 September 2011

Press Contact:
Andrea Eppert
Marion Hillesheim (Assistant)
Tel.: +49(0)211/45 60-997/-994
Email: EppertA@messe-duesseldorf.de
HillesheimM@messe-duesseldorf.de

 CARAVAN_2011_final_report.rtf