Melbourne rolls out red RV carpet

The first World RV Conference held in Australia has been judged an “unmitigated success” by Caravan Industry Association of Australia CEO, Stuart Lamont.

Lamont said feedback from the 332 delegates from 16 countries in attendance “has been overwhelmingly positive, with all delegates enjoying the depth and breadth of discussion that took place.

“We had presenters covering the industry from several vantage points – and the analysis and description served to highlight emerging opportunities and challenges that I think all delegates will take home with them.”

Melbourne is the third city to host a World RV Conference, following Dusseldorf in 2008 and Florida in 2012. The three-day Conference took place in late-February at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Melbourne’s CBD.

Lamont said highlights of the Conference included presentations from IBISWorld chairman, Phil Ruthven, who displayed some impressive global economic and social data and statistics while “presentations on World Product Standards from Bill Thiel (Australia), Bruce Hopkins (USA) and Jost Krüger (Germany) offered an invaluable insight into World Product Standards and how they translate on a global scale”.

Market insights on countries including China, the US, Canada, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Ghana also provided delegates with a perspective on how different nations holiday. RV travel in Japan, for example, mostly comprises short weekend trips, while the ‘Lap of the Map’ is still achievable in many Western countries.

As an emerging RV force, China had the largest international delegation with 35 delegates, and a presentation by the Chairman of the Board of Beijing Automotive Group, An Qingheng outlined China’s ambitions both in RV manufacturing and creating a touring industry domestically. These include 

China’s bold plan to build 10,000 caravan holiday parks by 2020.

Accordingly, the next World RV Conference will be held in China in 2018.