NCC survey reveals caravan industry contributes £6billion to UK economy

by Ben Wilby
The National Caravan Council (NCC) recently released new findings which show that the UK caravan industry is doing incredibly well despite the struggling economy.
Their survey showed that the caravan industry is not only proving extremely resilient to the difficult economic conditions, but actually has an excellent effect on the British economy.
Indeed, the most impressive part of the findings is the fact that the touring industry brings in an astounding six billion pounds to the UK’s economy each year.
According to the statistics, 500,000 Brits own touring caravans, while 260,000 have caravan holiday homes and 164,000 own motorhomes.
This figure accounts for the large number of licensed holiday/touring parks, with over 2,000 dotted around the UK to cater for all these caravan fanatics.
These excellent statistics are made even more impressive by the fact that 96% of all tourers sold in the UK were also made here.
The stats are slightly smaller but still impressive for motorhomes – with 70% of all those sold made in Britain.
These figures don’t look like changing any time soon with the Camping and Caravanning Club reporting a 14% rise in advanced bookings for 2013 compared to the same time last year.
The cost of caravanning
One reason for these excellent figures may be the low cost of touring the UK in a caravan compared to other holidays.
The NCC worked out the average cost to members of both tent and caravan pitches, and the results may come as a surprise to those who believe touring is becoming too expensive.
The average cost of a tent/caravan pitch with the Camping and Caravanning Club was estimated at somewhere between £20 and £25, while the average hard-standing cost for a family of four on a Caravan Club site was worked out to be £27.
Other factors such as the ability to share the experience, the low carbon footprint and the freedom associated with a tourer were also pointed to as reasons for the success of this pastime.
The findings come as 31,000 people, along with many of the UK’s biggest caravan companies, gear up for the Manchester Caravan and Motorhome Show which is due to take place on 17 to 20 January.
The NCC themselves will have a stand in Hall One, while familiar names such as Swift and Eterniti will also be in attendance.
Tickets can be pre-booked for £7.50, and will be available for £9 on the day. However there is still a small amount of time left to enter our competition to win one of 25 pairs of free tickets.
Those interested in attending the event can find more information on the official Manchester Caravan and Motorhome Show website.