Caravan, Camping and Motorhome Show 2023 achieves record-breaking number of visitors

Following a sell-out 2022 event, the Caravan, Camping and Motorhome Show 2023, that was held at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC), Birmingham between 21 – 26 February, attracted a record-breaking number of over 108,000 people. It is the UK’s largest start of season display of Leisure Vehicles, tents, trailer tents, camping essentials, tech and gadgets. The industry’s leading manufacturers, dealers, experts and retailers filled five halls (almost 20 acres), at the NEC. Many exhibitors, including Bailey of Bristol, RP Motorhomes, Wildax Motorhomes, Premium Motorhomes, Knaus, AutoSleepers, Adria, Campervan Co, Bradcot Awnings, SUP Co and more have praised the success of the Show, particularly due to the record number of visitors and volume of sales. As well as getting up close to compare the new-for-2023 campervans, caravans, motorhomes, tents, camping essentials and shopping from a huge range of tech, gadgets and accessories, visitors were also greeted by a star-studded line-up of guest speakers at the Inspiration Theatre. Featuring talks from the UK’s biggest outdoor- loving personalities and advocates such as Camping and Caravanning Club President Julia Bradbury, Channel 5’s Motorhoming with Paul Merton & Suki Webster, extreme adventurer Aldo Kane and wildlife cameraman and ornithologist Hamza Yassin.

Terry Dullaghan, Managing Director at NCC Events, said: “We are ecstatic with the outcome of the Show. It’s been a record breaking event in terms of visitor numbers, and we are pleased that this wave of new visitors resulted in a high level of sales for so many of our exhibitors. It’s great to see that despite the challenging economic times, the appetite and interest for camping and touring holidays and the outdoor lifestyle continues to grow. As always, we’d like to give a massive thank you to all exhibitors and visitors for their support and we look forward to delivering another fantastic event – the Motorhome and Caravan Show – here at the NEC in October.”

Dometic CEO comment on Q4 report

Juan Vargues, President and CEO of Dometic made the following comment on its Q4 2022 report: “In 2022 we continued to take significant steps forward on our transformational agenda. In an extremely challenging macroenvironment impacted by geopolitical uncertainty, high inflation, increasing interest rates and high retail inventories, we delivered record-high net sales of SEK 29.8 b (21.5) with an EBITA of SEK 3,9 b (3.3). We are continuing to transition into a more diversified and resilient company with greater exposure to low-ticket discretionary spend products. Our net sales have more than doubled compared to five years ago, and Distribution and Service & Aftermarket’s share has grown to 56 percent (39). In the fourth quarter of 2022 net sales growth was 11 percent and operating cash flow more than doubled to SEK 1,117 m (546). Organic net sales declined by -11 percent mainly due to reduced Service & Aftermarket sales as retailers globally are rebalancing their inventory levels. In addition, sales to Recreational Vehicle manufacturers (RV OEM) in the US declined as expected. EBITA before items affecting comparability was SEK 430 m (632), corresponding to a margin of 7.0 percent (11.4). The decline was mainly attributable to the EMEA and Americas segments, while

Caravan Industry Association of Australia shares its 23-24 Federal pre-budget submission

The Caravan Industry Association of Australia has sent a submission to the Australian Government Treasury office for the 2022-23 Federal Budget with 4-policy priority areas for Australia’s $27.1bn caravan and camping industry seeking direct engagement and where necessary, support from the Australian Government. This includes: supercharging Australian tourism by refocusing Tourism Australia, labour fource solutions and insurance reform; future proofing the caravan and camping industry via residential land lease comunities, regional investment, caravan and camping ‘net zero’, ebergy uplift scheme for caravan parks; and improving safety outcomes by assisting the industry’s transition to RVSA & safer vehicles, national caravan safety check program, and safer drivers. Its key recommendations are:

• $10M for Round 2 of Caravan Parks Grant Program & $500,000 for Partnership Agreement with CIAA for Engagement & Marketing

• Future Fuel Transition: Market Readiness Report for Caravan Industry Future-Proofing Around Net-Zero - $1.5M

• Assist Caravan Industry’s Transition to RVSA & Safer Vehicles – A $375K ($1.5M over 4 years) National Industry Education Program in Cooperative Partnership with Commonwealth.

• Insurance Reform – Affordable & Accessible Insurance for Our Industry Participants

• Tourism Australia Funding & Activity – A Continuing Role in the Domestic Market for Tourism Australia as Part of Annual Funding & Partnerships in Operational Planning the Marine segment continued to deliver strong results, with 11 percent organic net sales growth and improved EBITA margins of 25.5 percent (22.9). The sales mix, with lower share of Service & Aftermarket net sales, as well as currency movements had negative effects on the margin for the EMEA segment. In addition, the EMEA result was impacted by extraordinary logistics related costs and by inefficiencies in manufacturing, which are expected to gradually decline in 2023. The margin for the Americas segment was negatively impacted by significantly lower net sales in both RV OEM and Service & Aftermarket. The global restructuring programs are running at high pace, and our workforce has declined by more than 1,600 resources compared to a year ago (pro forma). We are taking further measures to address the situation in EMEA and Americas and we expect to see gradual improvements during 2023. [...] We are very proud of the results that the entire organization has achieved in an extremely challenging 2022. Thanks to our dedicated and highly professional employees, we have taken several important steps on our strategic journey, while at the same time taking necessary short-term cost reduction actions to protect margin and cash flow”.

• Land Lease Communities.

Auto-Trail bids farewell to Dave Thomas; Shane Devoy new MD

After 28 years at Auto-Trail, Dave Thomas, Managing Director has now retired and left the business. His successor is Shane Devoy, who joined Auto-Trail in 1998, who has been joined on the Board of Directors by Commercial Director, Scott Stephens and Technical Director, Steve Moverley who (together) have nearly 80 years of experience. Dave Thomas led the company through a continuous period of significant growth and success, overseeing the introduction of numerous popular ranges in the leisure vehicle market and growing the company’s workforce to over two hundred members of staff at its Grimsby headquarters. Dave’s leadership and contribution to Auto-Trail over a near thirty-year period have been greatly valued and appreciated, and he will be deeply missed by all. “On leaving Auto-Trail, I shall miss the industry, the people in it and my Trigano colleagues, but now is the time to move on, spend more time with my family and who knows do something else to occupy my time,” said Dave Thomas. After 25 years at the company himself, new Managing Director, Shane Devoy has a wealth of experience in the industry and is confident in Auto-Trail’s capability to go from strength-tostrength and grow to meet the ever-increasing popularity of the leisure vehicle industry despite industry-wide constraints. Devoy spoke of the economic and supply constraints suffered by the industry but can see positivity on the horizon.

Knaus Tabbert increased the group revenue in fiscal year 2022

Driven by a strong growth spurt in the fourth quarter, Knaus Tabbert increased consolidated group revenue to over EUR 1 billion for the first time in fiscal year 2022 based on preliminary figures. Overall, consolidated group revenue in financial year 2022 increased by 22 percent to EUR 1,050 million (previous year: EUR 863 million). Of this, EUR 356 million was attributable to the fourth quarter alone (previous year: EUR 228 million), in which the positive effects of the multibrand strategy at chassis became clearly evident for the first time. As a result, 11,426 motorized vehicles and 18,130 caravans were sold across the Group in the past fiscal year. “The growth momentum in revenue and unit sales underscores the appeal of our brands for dealers and customers alike. The strong demand for leisure vehicles is also reflected in a continued high order backlog of EUR 1.3 billion at the end of the year,” commented Wolfgang Speck, CEO of Knaus Tabbert AG, on the past year. The strong growth was driven by all five group brands – equally in the luxury and premium segments. The key figures reflect the temporary shift in production from motorhomes to caravans.

Matjaž Grm resigns from Adria Mobil to start CEO role in marine industry

Matjaž Grm, the Executive Sales and Marketing Director of Adria Mobil in Slovenia has resigned to start a new position as CEO of Greenline Yachts. Aboutcamp BtoB enjoyed several meetings and interesting discussions with Matjaž Grm during his time at Adria Mobil, would like to wish him every success in his new role. In his announcement of his new role on LinkedIn, Matjaž Grm said: “I would like to thank Sonja Gole as general manager of Adria, Trigano executive management and the rest of the Adria management team for all the opportunities, autonomy, trust and cooperation during all the (14) years. And last but not least, I need to thank all my employees in the S&M departments, product designers, marketing agencies, R&D development and all Adria distribution partners for a really unique cooperation and incredible support to each other for business and personal growth during all the years. And with that legacy in place, I am leaving Adria with strong proudness of all achievements and the confidence for the future perspective for the company.”