Thirst for adventure means over 16 million touring trips by 2030

The number of touring trips where the main form of accommodation is camping or caravanning will rise by six per cent – almost a million journeys – to 16.6 million by 2030 says new analysis for the Caravan and Motorhome Club undertaken by the Centre for Economics and Business Research. Spending is also set to boom with the outlay increasing by more than a third over the same period. Brits are forecast to spend some £3.6 billion on hitting the road for their holidays in 2030 – a rise of 37 per cent on current levels – either in their own vehicles or rentals, says forecasting experts. Sales of caravans and motorhomes are also set to rise by 18 per cent to 889,000 vehicles by 2030.

Harvey Alexander, director of marketing, the Caravan and Motorhome Club commented: “We’re a membership organisation of people who passionately love the outdoors and we were delighted to see both such positive predictions for growth and also that 55 per cent of people we surveyed felt that caravan and motorhome holidays have become more popular in recent years. It’s clear from the feedback we’ve had that the flexibility and freedom and sense of adventure is what appeals to most holidaymakers but we were also excited to see that people are also showing interest in taking their vehicles further afield. One in three people we spoke to said they are interested in a caravan or motorhome holiday in mainland Europe, with almost one in five (16%) hoping to tour in North America. And similar numbers even said they’d just like to head off an adventure with no fixed destination. Our role is to inspire future generations of touring holidaymakers and Club members to go out and start their own adventures, whether they travel for 10 miles, 100 miles or a thousand miles.”

The Caravan and Motorhome Club Inspiring Adventure Report has been published to coincide with the announcement that it has changed its name from The Caravan Club to reflect the increasing number of motorhome travellers in its membership. The Club will be upgrading facilities across its entire site network, including wifi on every single site by the end of this year and expanding the worldwide holidays on offer to members.

Other predictions in the report published today include the fact that touring holidays also forecast to rise sharply in 2018 to 16.2million as a weak pound could result in more people taking UK holidays.

Almost one third (27%) said they have owned or rented a caravan and camper van of which 78 per cent stay in the UK and 21 per cent head for the European mainland.

Londoners topped the list for those heading abroad with one in three (33 %) travelling to mainland Europe and 18 per cent going to North America.

Overseas holidays by caravan and motorhome also look set to become increasingly popular. The research reveals that the growth in touring holidays is backed by consumer appetite for new destinations and experiences. Three quarters of people  interested in touring would like to holiday in the UK, but a third said they’d be interested in a motorhome or caravan holiday in Europe, 16 per cent in North America, 10 per cent in Australasia and 5per cent in Asia. Almost one in ten said they’d be interested in a multi-country trip (e.g. across Europe or Africa) and 18 per cent said they’d just like to head off on an adventure with no fixed destination! And they survey found that people expect those who enjoy caravan and motorhome holidays to be those who love the spontaneity of being  able to get up and go (39%) to  love an  adventure (34%), to love nature (31%) to enjoy going back to basics (24%). People who enjoy caravan and motorhome holidays are also expected to be great with a BBQ (12%) and even to know it’s about to rain without needing a weather forecast (5%). 

The Caravan and Motorhome Club has also responded to that adventurous intent and announced plans to inspire more people to consider touring holidays by taking part in an arctic adventure this spring when two caravans, a campervan and a motorhome which will visit 12 countries in 16 days.

The 5,000 mile Arctic Adventure, in conjunction with Bailey of Bristol, will leave the UK on 2 March and will visit countries such as Belgium, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Holland before returning back to the UK on 17 March. The journey will take 16 days to visit 12 countries taking in some of Europe’s most iconic locations including the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, the official home town of Santa Claus at Rovaniemi in Finland, and the Oresund Bridge linking Sweden to Denmark. The Caravan and Motorhome Arctic Adventure can be followed in social media using #CAMCpioneer and #arcticadventure hashtags.

For more information please visit www.camc.com

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Champions of the great outdoors, the Caravan and Motorhome Club represents the interests of over one million caravanners,motorhomers and trailer tent owners across the UK.

Caravan and Motorhome Club membership is just £49 per year and provides members with access to over 200 Club sites and 2,500 privately owned places to stay in the UK.

It also offers a choice of close to 300 sites across Europe including France, Spain and Germany amongst other destinations. All members can take advantage of expert advice, overseas travel services, insurance services and exclusive member offers and discounts. There is no membership requirement for campers who want to pitch up at over 40 Caravan and Motorhome Club sites.

For further information about becoming a member of the Caravan and Motorhome Club please visit www.camc.com or call 01342 318 813.

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Media enquiries

Nikki Nichol, external communications and sponsorship manager at The Caravan and Motorhome Club on 01342 336 797 / 07771 834 443 or email nikki.nichol@camc.com

Debbie Hindle and Helen Coop Four Travel on 0203 697 4200 or mobiles 07584 473202 or 07841 672394 or email debbie.hindle@fourcommunications.com, helen.coop@fourcommunications.com. 

Notes to editor

Statistics source: Caravan and Motorhome Club Inspiring Adventure Report. Growth forecast predictions created by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) and consumer research of 2000 people undertaken by OnePoll. Predictions for the total number of touring caravans takes the National Caravan Council current estimates as a base and then draws on the findings of the OnePoll consumer research and an understanding of the macroeconomic projections of consumer growth to consider how demand may change over coming years. Consumer spending and holidays forecasts are projected forward on a similar basis from data included in the Great Britain Tourism Survey showing trips by domestic tourists involving camping and caravanning accommodation.