DUSSELDORF CARAVAN SHOW: China goes camping

Many Aussies think China's main role in the global RV industry is as a manufacturer of cheap RV products and accessories, which has most noticeably resulted in a flood of cut-price camper trailers on our shores.

However, the rise of China's middle class with increased disposable income and leisure time has created the opportunity for one of the world's most populous nations to become a major consumer as well as supplier of recreational vehicles.

Helping drive China's fledgling leisure industry has been the All in Caravanning show held annually in Beijing since 2012 and organised by the same people behind the Dusseldorf Caravan Show, the world's biggest RV show.

While still relatively small, the Beijing show has grown four-fold in three years, with the 2014 event attracting 183 exhibitors spread over 20,000 square metres of floorspace at the Beijing Exhibtion Centre.

Just over 5000 attended the 2014 event (a far cry from the 175,000 at Dusseldorf) but that included a ‘who's who' of world industry leaders including then CRVA chairman Mark Lindsay from Australia.

??Exhibitors from nine countries (including Australia) included RV heavy-hitters such as Airstream, Adria, Hobby, Jayco (US), Al-Ko, Truma and Dometic, all vying for a slice of this potentially lucrative market.
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China has all the ingredients for the caravanning lifestyle, with a claimed 137 million cars on the road, and many tourists opting for self-drive holidays.

Along with the growing number of local manufacturers, at least eight major international brands have set up RV dealerships in Beijing.

The hope is also that the RV industry can replicate some of the success of China's booming automotive industry, with Chinese factories delivering more than 22 million vehicles in 2013.

“The development of China's caravanning industry is stimulated by favorable conditions like the promising prospects of China's national economy, the rapid growth of China's auto industry and ever-improving living standards of the Chinese people,” the chairman of Beijing Tourism Industry Association – Auto Camping Branch, An Qingheng, said at a press conference in Dusseldorf to promote the 2015 All in Caravanning event.

One thing currently holding back any sort of RV boom in China is the lack of infrastructure. There are only about 200 campgrounds in the whole country although this should rise significantly with 10 Chinese provinces planning to build another 730 campgrounds by 2020.

??Chinese authorities are also moving up a gear, with the first industry standards for campgrounds due to come into force in December.

One of the exhibitors at this year's Dusseldorf show is the China Campgrounds Experience Program, a tourism body that promotes a network of 72 campgrounds around the country.

It's also obvious the number of Chinese and Asian businessman scouring the halls at Dusseldorf, looking for trade opportunities with foreign partners.

China's relatively poor status as a nation of caravanners hasn't prevented it from winning the rights to host the 4th World RV Conference in 2017. The conference will coincide with the All in Caravanning Show, and follow the 3rd World RV Conference held in Melbourne in early-2015. ?