Big crowds flock to Queensland Supershow

Australians may have limits on where they can travel these days, but that didn’t stop them turning out in force for the 2021 ‘Go Queensland' Caravan & Camping Supershow at Brisbane’s Royal ICC in early June.

Perhaps buoyed by pent-up interest following the cancellation of the 2020 show due to COVID restrictions, RVs and associated products from 220 exhibitors fronted up from June 2-7, with the crowd of 40,440 that visited the Showgrounds over its six days almost identical to the 40,500 recorded in 2019.

This compares with the record turnout of close to 20,000 spectators over three days for the Let's Go Gold Coast Caravan & Outdoor Expo in March.

The Brisbane crowd was also very good considering that Australia’s largest caravan manufacturer, Jayco, was a notable absentee. This followed its decision to sit out all 2021 caravan shows after lengthy factory shutdowns and component shortages, while Queensland’s largest maker Kedron, which typically displays around 20 vans, was another big-name no-show.

In their absence, other caravan manufacturers and their Queensland dealers spread their wings, including Caloundra’s Sunseeker doubling the size of their previous displays.

Then there were the ‘newbies’ like Caravana, established by former luxury car dealers Martin Roller and Marvin Burke in Redcliffe, which had a total of more than 30 caravans and motorhomes on display on its separate Crusader (19 vans) and Roadstar/Suncamper motorhome sites.

Roller said that Caravana had been able to negotiate a guaranteed supply of eight new Crusaders a month to sell and deliver from next year, and this would rise to 20 per month as when the component backlog ended.

Many local caravanners also gravitated towards RVs specifically built for Queensland conditions.

For example, Sunseeker Caravnas founder Chris Michel said Sunseeker and Marvel caravans, while not built in Queensland, differed in many unique ways to their cousins built interstate by the same makers to withstand tropical operating conditions.

Others, like the reborn Regent, with its sleek, newly restyled Chinese-built fixed wall and slide-out range and keen prices, were busy snapping up the sales that the absent manufacturers missed. One exhibitor anecdotally reported more than 100 caravan sales at the show.

Some of the vans on display at the Supershow were available for immediate delivery, or by the end of 2021 show season, which was important to buyers in the vast state, with its year-round caravanning season regardless of border lockdowns.

Equipment shortages, from windows and awnings, to interior hardware, has kept many new caravans from being completed in Melbourne’s RV heartland of Campbellfield, while open/shut ‘screen door’ border closures have taken the wind out of many travelers’ plans to hit the road.

This has driven the increased number of RVs now being built in Queensland, which has weathered the COVID storm better than most other states. Other sales came from increased imports from overseas, particularly China, while another impetus came from caravan suppliers, channeling products to markets that could ensure their cashflow.

Caravanning Queensland Trade CEO Jason Plant also took advantage of the surrounding construction works and increased space in some areas to stage a new interactive 4WD demonstration over obstacles on a purpose-built track, while simultaneously answering spectator questions.

These demonstrations, along with the weight and towing seminars run by Gary Gardiner (Total Towing Setups), Dave Lewis (Weightcheck) and Jeff Palmer (Tow-Ed) proved very popular, with their most popular workshop being ‘How to correctly load a caravan’.

All look like being permanent features of future Queensland caravan shows.

While the numbers of RV exhibitors was slightly down, there was a bumper turnout of accessory exhibitors at the sideshows displaying everything from caravan towing aids to 12 volt appliances. Some of these exhibitors said they missed the opportunity in 2020 to 'sell direct' to buyers at the shows, as their retail sales without an established showroom was essential to their survival.

It all poses the question as to whether state capital-based caravan shows are still relevant in these times of COVIDS restrictions?

Jason Plant said all three events held by Caravanning Queensland since COVID restrictions began to ease in Queensland have now seen an increase in attendance,  or are on par with 2019 figures.

“It’s a great indication for the industry that the post-COVID surge in sales shows no signs of slowing and we are expecting the next 12 to 18 months to be very strong for the industry as customers collect their newly delivered vans every day," he said.

So, to paraphrase him, the answer remains an emphatic ‘yes’.

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