By William Coleman
It seems that despite the current comedic state of British politics and the uncertainty of a deal, or even leaving the EU, the sale or leisure vehicles in certain areas is still very much in good shape.
The big bad B word does seem to have split a lot of things down the middle when it comes to tourism. Half of those who love going to places across Europe now seem to be a bit wary of it and are actually staying in the UK for their holiday time.
In mid September I was in Munich I was asked several times a day by the locals about Breixt, to which I could not really give any real answer to. And I must admit I did grow tiresome of the constant questioning which did kind of sour me toward going back.
With all this turmoil going on it seems that the UK leisure vehicle industry is actually coming up quids in. Well, this certainly seems to be the case for Don Amott Caravans in Derbyshire.
Some recent sales figures for Don Amott saw them sell £3,000,000 worth of motorhomes in just six days! Which also shows how well motorhome sales are doing.
Speaking with Derbyshire Live Don Amott’s Chairman, Don Amott, has said he truly feels that the Brexit “crisis” is actually putting a lot of people off of holidaying abroad.
Mr. Amott feels that people opting to stay home for their holidays is being directly reflected in the company’s growing sales numbers.
The company saw huge sales numbers at the NEC Motorhome and Caravan Show in Birmingham. It is here where they made their £3m sales figure. Which surprised me as the show seemed a lot less busy. It seems that only serious buyers attended this time round.
I can’t help but agree, in part, with Mr. Amott. If you look at all the stress and kerfuffle that goes into air travel it wont take too much more to keep a much larger amount of UK residents home for their holidays.
When it comes to Brexit it does seem that leaving will have some kind of negative knock on effect on the value of the GPB and how you will then be received abroad. I mean, I have personally experienced it myself and we are still in the EU. It will be interesting to see how we are received once all is said and done.
The company also operates a series of leisure parks on the Lincolnshire coast, including Lakeside Park and Nettleton Park.
Mr Amott said that since January, the company had seen a 160% increase in sales of its luxury holiday homes and lodges, compared to last year.
He said: “We’ve found that the current national crisis is making people think twice about foreign holidays.
“They just don’t know how it will affect a number of issues, from airport chaos and passport control, to healthcare, insurance and driving abroad.”
Donn Amoot have been selling accessories, caravans and motorhomes for over 55 years. The company was founded Don’s father, also named Don, way back in 1963, where it originally started out by renting holiday homes on the east coast.
Mr Amott Senior became the first person in the country to start buying vans in bulk and today, the firm stocks hundreds of motorhomes and caravans.
