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So how important for people looking for
tent holidays is this show at the NEC?
It's about the only place you can actually come and find
everything under one roof at this moment in time
okay, it's mixed in with loads of other products
but at the end of the day
Tent camping, say, or over-seas holidays
is not insular, it's all part of a total package
so you can come here, you can buy your tent, you can buy your caravan,
you can buy your motorhome, you can buy your holiday,
you can buy your canoe to go on the roof,
it's all here under one roof, it's the only show at the moment in the UK.
Is this NEC show important for your readers and their purchase of new caravans?
Yeah, I mean, there's two shows at the
NEC every year, and the September show,
or September/October/Autumn show
is seen as the one for the die-hard caravanners.
They're the ones who are out in September ordering
a caravan for the following spring.
This Show, very early spring/late winter,
is people thinking about this year's
holidays and they've now thought, 'maybe I can go
caravanning this year', so this tends to be younger people,
younger families, traditionally.
and the market is a bit different at this one,
and it's a very important show for us because
there's a lot of people here who are desperate for information
really you know, good quality information and advice.
As far as tents are concerned, Nick, we're seeing more
people buying more tents, you can buy a
tent in any highstreet in the UK these days
do you detect any differences, any trends
in who's buying these tents?
I think there's a massive growth
which possibly isn't even detected at the moment
in families coming to tents
for the first time
probably based on the fact that one, or both,
parents in the past have had tent holidays
and have good memories of it
and as I say
They've had expensive holidays in other types of holiday
in the past, and now they're thinking
let's go tent camping, it's really good value
and great fun!
I think a lot of the emphasis of the buyers
in the market recently has been towards people
returning to the market, so maybe people
who caravanned twenty or thirty years ago
are now thinking that actually, I've been to Thailand,
I've been to Hong Kong, I've been to Australia twice,
but I've never been to Dorset, or I've never been to Devon.
Those people are now, returning to caravanning
and quickly realising I'd still like to go abroad, and
consequently we're getting lots of enquiries from
First Time Abroad, that sort of thing, or people,
first time caravanning for a long time and want to
be re-reminded of the basics, that sort of
thing so we're getting queries from very
in-depth, very technical stuff, to very basic,
first-timer stuff, and frankly that's
great because it shows a broad
section of people in the market.
I think the UK camping and caravanning market is actually doing really well at the moment
considering we're just coming out of recession,
possibly just still in it
I think it's fair to say that new caravan sales have not been good
and new motorhome sales have not been particularly good
but underlying that there's a lot of people buying second-hand caravans and second-hand
motorhomes, especially
and I think that bodes so well for the future
on the tent side, I think things have been pretty good there,
and I think again, people are re-discovering 'tenting' and it's looking good.
Well of course, at this moment in time, it's a very, very exciting time
one of the very interesting things is that we used to get peaks and troughs within this
industry,
but for at least ten years now
the camping industry, especially where tents are concerned
has just been climbing, there just seems to be no stop,
it hasn't plateaued, it hasn't peaked yet
people are finding traditional values
they're re-finding what it means to go
out and enjoy the great out-doors
and experience it with friends and family
to actually relieve the stress of actually working
in modern times. It is the way to escape.
I think a lot of people in 2009 just healed
back from going abroad
I think they thought it was going to be too expensive
I think they had a feeling that it was going to be a
sunny summer over here in the UK
but I think they've also realised that now, at the start of 2010
we don't get too much in the way of sunny summers
and I think they're looking again, at France especially as an ideal holiday destination.
People who travelled, maybe, for the first time with a caravan last year
are now thinking, 'well actually I've quite like to go abroad',
'I'd quite like to go somewhere a bit warmer',
'as much as these places are great, for my big holiday
I'd like to go a bit further',
'I've got two weeks to spend, I can travel a bit further
than 100 (or so) miles, in the UK'
So that's creating lots of interesting conundrums for people
they don't really know where are suitable destinations
to go abroad with caravans
they're a bit nervous about getting on and off ferries
and a lot of them are very suppressed at the cost of the ferries,
a lot of people are actually saying they're a lot cheaper than they
actually expected which is great news for people travelling abroad.
I think the Alan Rogers Guides still stand out as exceptional.
They've got a fantastic, loyal following
based on the quality of their editorial and the quality of their reporting.
The Alan Rogers Guides are long established, and as such
a bit like the magazine itself
people who know the market, know what they're doing,
really trust the information in them,
they know that the reviews and information they get in there
are going to be reliable, and that they can plan their holiday
around the information thats in there.
Because it's long established, it's trusted,
and the brand's been built up around the information that's provided
and if the information wasn't good there wouldn't be a brand and I think
people understand that completely.