More young families / High ratio of first-time visitors
CARAVAN SALON DÜSSELDORF 2017 drew to a close as the most visited event in its history impressively underscoring its leading position as the world’s biggest trade fair for motorhomes and caravans. “With extremely satisfied exhibitors and more than 232,000 visitors (2016: 203,500) CARAVAN SALON has far exceeded our expectations and we are excited to have reached another all-time high in visitor attendance this year. Mobile holiday-making continues to boom. Düsseldorf is the only place where visitors find a complete market overview, the new launches and innovations for the season as well as a great programme of side events with activities for the whole family,” says Joachim Schäfer, Managing Director at Messe Düsseldorf GmbH, summing up and adding that the high proportion of first-time visitors at 35 percent was also very noticeable. Many of these newcomers have visited the special show “StarterWelt“ with the stated aim of obtaining general information or expert advice on individual topics. “This year almost 60% of visitors came with concrete intentions to buy. The attendance at CARAVAN SALON evidences the high standing enjoyed by caravanning as a form of holiday-making in our society,” Schäfer went on to explain. Furthermore, trade visitors from all over world (this year a strikingly high number of delegations from the United States, Australian and the Asian region were present) confirm the extraordinary international position of CARAVAN SALON.
Hermann Pfaff, President of the Caravanning Industry Association, was also delighted with the way the CARAVAN SALON had gone: “The interest in caravanning continues to be very high and has even increased against the previous year – this is also reflected by the repeated rise in visitor numbers. We look back on the biggest and most visited CARAVAN SALON of all times. This edition has underpinned the event’s position as the world’s No.1 trade fair once again.” The CIVD President paid big compliments to the manufacturers for their innovative products and representative stands. “The excellent sales figures reflect the good current market situation,” said Pfaff adding that the exuberant mood among manufacturers, dealers and customers lead them to expect the industry to also benefit from the current caravanning boom over the next few months.
In excess of 600 national and international exhibitors in total presented their innovations and current models in for the first time 13 halls as well as on the outdoor fair grounds. On over 214,000 square metres some 2,100 recreational vehicles were on show – plus accessories, technical equipment, attachments, awnings, motorhomes, campsites, motor parks, as well as travel destinations. The majority of exhibitors at CARAVAN SALON therefore voiced their satisfaction and reported posting very good sales.
“We are currently experiencing a booming market and this year’s CARAVAN SALON is a brilliant start to the coming season. However, we also see that innovation pays off. Our customers have become more demanding –rewarding our aspiration to spearhead technology in the caravanning sectors,” said Gerd Adamietzki, Sales and Marketing Manager at Knaus Tabbert GmbH. “This trade fair proved more than successful to us. Our dealers are extremely pleased. Customers are ready to spend, our innovative products set trends and the trade fair provides the best framework conditions for good sales. This was also confirmed by the positive growth rates that yet again clearly exceeded last year’s outstanding results,” added Wolfgang Speck, Chairman of the Board at Knaus Tabbert.
Holger Schulz, General Manager at Hobby-Wohnwagenwerk Ing. Harald Striewski GmbH, also rejoiced at new record sales: “We are thrilled with the incredible demand. Our deals concluded at the trade fair beat the already very good results last year. Add to this the many orders taken at the dealer sites all over Germany that we can directly assign to the consulting here at the trade fair in Düsseldorf. We feel that more and more younger people and young families are taking an interest in caravanning as a form of holiday-making opting for the relevant Hobby models such as caravans with children’s bunk beds. We are also more than satisfied with the results obtained with our motorhomes and camper vans and have found that high-quality design as well as good finish combined with a good dealer service rank high with our clientele.”
Martin Brandt, Chairman of the Board at Erwin Hymer Group, looks back on the biggest CARAVAN SALON in terms of size in its history with utmost satisfaction: “We are happy with the high number of visitors and can state once again that caravanning is indeed trendy. We can look back on successful days with a trade fair that serves the entire industry as an annual indicator for market trends. The Erwin Hymer Group, Europe’s biggest manufacturer of motor homes and caravans, once again follows on from the success figures of past fiscal years posting record results across all brands. We are particularly happy about the many first-time customers who have boosted our numbers in the entry-level segment for both caravans and camper vans. I am confident that we can carry over the Caravan Salon spirit and its enthusiasm to the autumn business in 2017.”
“The TV campaign initiated by the Caravanning Industry Association has massively contributed to bringing many new, younger buyers to Düsseldorf. To my mind it is positive to register such an extremely high percentage of first-time visitors yet again. The sales in the premium segment for our brand Eura Mobil have risen just as strongly as for our entry-price brand Forster. We can draw very positive conclusions,” explained Dr. Holger Siebert, General Manager at Eura Mobil GmbH, and added that the imported vehicles of Trigano-Haus also posted substantial increases – especially with such brands as Challenger and Mobilvetta.
Bernd Wuschack, Sales, Marketing and Service Manager at Carthago, said: “Caravan Salon 2017 was a resounding success for our brands Carthago and Malibu! We came to Düsseldorf with optimism and our expectations were still far exceeded. Compared to the previous record year we managed to markedly increase sales figures yet again. Now our dealer partners are hoping for a successful trade fair follow-up business.”
In addition to the usual Hall 13 a second exhibition area for the technical equipment and accessories providers was created in Hall 5 in response to popular demand. Jürgen Vöhringer, Managing Partner of Vöhringer GmbH & Co. KG, summed it up: “CARAVAN SALON is also the most important meeting of the year for suppliers. The trade fair was a success across the board. We have learnt that customers want increasingly better equipped recreational vehicles that offer greater ease of use and more comfort. This has a very positive impact on suppliers’ order books. The increasing connectivity of vehicles remains a dominating theme. Just as important will be lightweight construction. Here innovative new products will have to be developed.” The extension of the technical accessories segment, he felt, was a first step that had been received extremely well in the sector. Many enterprises that had been on the waiting list until now were able to participate for the first time, he said, and had been enthusiastic about the audience and the atmosphere as a whole.
The 57th CARAVAN SALON DÜSSELDORF will be held from 24 August (trade visitor and media day) to 2 September 2018.
www.caravan-salon.de
Press Contact
Alexander Kempe, Marion Hillesheim
Tel.: +49(0)211/45 60-997 / - 994
Fax: +49(0)211/45 60-8548
KempeA@messe-duesseldorf.de
HillesheimM@messe-duesseldorf.de
