Caravan and motorhome sales on the up, with record ‘staycation’ figures

Figures released by the National Caravan Council (the NCC), the event arm of which runs the UK’s largest leisure vehicle show, confirm the UK’s continuing enthusiasm for caravanning and motorhoming. Staycations and domestic trips in leisure vehicles are also on the rise.

The Motorhome and Caravan Show 2017 heads to Birmingham’s NEC from 17 to 22 October, where leisure vehicle manufacturers and dealers show their 2018 product ranges and around 100,000 visitors are attracted to the annual event.

According to the NCC, production of touring caravans was up 13.7% in the first six months of 2017 compared to the same period last year, while motorhome registrations rose by 11.3%.

Caravan holiday homes are also steadily increasing, with a 5.6% growth in deliveries to holiday park locations between year start and end of June 2017 compared to 2016.

From January to April 2017, Britons took a record 14.4 million domestic holidays, or ‘staycations’ within Great Britain: a figure up 3% over the same period last year.

VisitEngland reports that British residents took 44.7 million holiday trips in England during 2016, up 2% over the previous year. Over 10.2 million, or nearly one in four of these vacations, used caravans, motorhomes or camping as accommodation. Short breaks of one to three nights made up two thirds of all English holiday trips, with 29.3 million taken in 2016.