Caravan industry drives job market

Australia’s ‘caravan capital’ Victoria contributed $2.1 billion to the state’s economy in 2017, while employing 6587 people in RV manufacturing, retail, repair and servicing, according to the Caravan Industry Association of Victoria (CIA Vic).

Figures released by the peak body for Victoria’s caravan industry show the industry created 1450 new jobs in the six years from 2011 – a 26 per cent increase over that period.

“Manufacturing accounts for 4123 of these jobs, in sharp contrast with the decline in other sectors such as the car industry,” said CIA Vic boss, Rob Lucas.

“Our total contribution to the state’s economy has grown by 50 per cent, from $1.4 billion in 2011 to $2.1 billion in 2017."

He said more than 1000 individual enterprises contributed an annual payroll of $330 million. That's an annual average wage of just over $50,000, with each enterprise employing around six people on average.

Lucas attributed the “amazing growth’ to increasing production, the rising popularity of premium caravans and the introduction of the Industry Blueprint in 2012.

However, he said there was still much to be done to raise the industry’s overall business standards.

“The key to success is to deliver quality and value to our customers, and we have many initiatives under way to help achieve this, especially in training,” he said.

“Our National Caravan Industry Training College has been gaining traction steadily since it started in 2015, and we have exciting plans to build first class new training facilities.”