Leisurefest safe at Sandown

The Victorian Trades Division of Caravan Industry Australia still expects to stage the State’s second major caravan and camping show at Melbourne Sandown Racecourse in 2015, despite rumours it has been looking for a larger venue.

According to CEO Rob Lucas, the CIAV has a venue agreement with the Melbourne Racing Club to stage Leisurefest at the suburban Melbourne venue for the next three years, with the 2015 show calendared from October 8-11.

“We‘ve heard rumours that we’ve had a bust-up with the MRC, but we are locked into Sandown for the next three years as far as we know,” he said. “If the MRC decides to do some developments, we’ll take it as it comes.”

Questions about Leisurefest’s future at Sandown have been asked following the rapid acceptance of the move from Caulfield Racecourse to the Melbourne Showgroundsof Melbourne’s major caravan expo, the Victorian Caravan, Camping & Touring Supershow.

While the RV industry is not particularly happy with the earlier February 11-16 show date – nearly a month earlier and just a few days before the South Australian Caravan Show – which puts pressure on manufacturers to design stands and build show vans either in the busy pre-Christmas, or late-January period after New Year start-up, they have clearly voted for the extra display space with their feet.

According to Lucas, all caravan, motor home, tent trailer and fifth wheeler sites at the Showgrounds were spoken for nearly two months out, with many manufacturers opting to expand into the additional 18,000 square metres available with larger displays, while there has also been a rush for the much greater and more desirable undercover space than was available at Caulfield Racecourse.

Sandown Racecourse offers more undercover space to exhibitors than Caulfield, but it still doesn’t compare to that offered by the Showgrounds.

In a bid to fill exhibitor requests, the CIAV expanded display space at the 2014 Leisurefest onto the Sandown motor racing course, while larger space was allocated to 4WD displays, an area where the CIAV sees future growth potential.