by Tom Leaning
British holiday park company Away Resorts claims to have reinvented the humble caravan with the introduction of a new concept in affordable UK family accommodation.
Away Resorts have spent the past two years developing the Tribeca for the modern family: a ’boutique-style caravan’, using opinion polls, focus groups and a wide range of research.
The Tribeca – which they hope will do for caravanning what glamping has done for camping – certainly does not resemble a traditional caravan, inside or out, but is being marketed as a caravan reinvented. They collaborated with leading caravan manufacturer ABI to complete the project.
The Tribeca’s main features include:
A boutique hotel feel
A central living space
An adults’ bedroom that is like a boutique hotel
The Tribeca is the long-term project of Away Resorts CEO Carl Castledine, and is inspired by the loft-style apartments of the trendy Tribeca district in New York City. According Away Resorts, Mr Castledine personally visited every caravan manufacturer and walked through every model ever produced in the last 15 years to create the new caravan.
Mr Castledine says: “More than 51 million nights are spent in the UK in caravans each year, a figure I suspect will rise as the impact of Brexit kicks in over the coming years. The caravan industry contributes more than £6billion a year to the UK economy, so it’s got no shortage of fans. But, it’s never really been cool, until now.
“First of all, we know that the lifestyle and leisure needs of the modern family have changed drastically – especially in the past decade. Twelve years ago Facebook didn’t exist, let alone Instagram and Snapchat, and just five years ago primary school aged children didn’t carry their own tech around with them. Add to this the massive rise in the popularity of boutique hotels and glamping – both of which have raised the expectations of families in terms of the comfort and aesthetics of their surroundings when on holiday.
“And we know from research that women are often the main decision makers when it comes to family holidays, and they know what the family needs. So we used valuable feedback and opinions from hundreds of mums as well as dads, and then teamed up with a woman designer to create the Tribeca. We are really proud of this new concept in family accommodation, which puts the modern family at the heart of its design.”
The first guests will stay in the Tribeca caravans (which can be booked online from now) at Easter in ‘Tribeca Villages’ at Away Resorts’ Tattershall Lakes park in Lincolnshire and Whitecliff Bay park in the Isle of Wight.
The grand unveiling of the first Tribeca will take place at the Caravan and Camping Show at Birmingham NEC from 21 February.
To find out more about Tribeca caravans visit awayresorts.co.uk
Has Tribeca really re-invented the caravan with this new concept? Tell us what you think below…
