NCC: Things you (probably) never knew about caravans...

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Monday, 01, Oct 2007 12:00

1. Number crunching:

Q. How many caravans are there in the UK?

- Over a million! Of the three main types for leisure use, there are:

- 500,000 touring caravans

- 330,000 caravan holiday homes and

- 135,000 motorhomes

Souce: National Caravan Council statistics

Which means that …

… a couple of million British people take caravan holidays every year (the Caravan Club alone has 850,000 members). In 2004, nearly one in five (18.8%) of adults whose last holiday was in the UK took a caravan holiday (source: TGI/Mintel).

And if …

… all the touring caravans in Britain were put end to end, they would stretch from Land’s end to John O’Groats three times (3,000 miles).

Q. How many touring caravans are made in the UK?

A. In 2006, over 29,000 touring caravans were produced in the UK - around 90% of caravans bought in Britain were actually made here!

And how many motorhomes were registered?

A. Some 11,000 motorhomes were registered with the DVLA in 2006 – a record number.

Q. In which European country are the most touring caravans sold?

A. In Britain! The UK overtook Germany as the largest market in Europe for touring caravans in 2003 and it stayed ahead in 2006. (Source: European Caravan Federation – www.e-c-f.org)

2. Caravan holidays:

Q. Where can you stay with a touring caravan or motorhome?

A. There are more than 3,000 parks for holiday caravans in the UK (source NCC). And the most popular destination is the West Country (source: TGI/Mintel).

Caravan parks vary from huge centres with on-site entertainment, leisure centres and multi-sports courts to tiny Certificated Locations (CLs) where there may only be running water and a stunning view.

Q. Why do people do it?

A. When you ask caravanners what they like about it, they say that it is the freedom and meeting similar minded people that attracts them.

3. Potted history:

Q.When were caravans invented?

A. Caravans as we know them evolved rather than were invented. It is known that they were used in Marco Polo’s time (13th century), by a character in Charles Dickens’s Old Curiosity Shop (1841) and during the First (1914-18) World War. However, the caravan for leisure use seems to have taken off in the beginning of the 20th century (source W. M Whiteman in ‘The History of the Caravan’). It was then a pursuit for the wealthy and leisured - Harrods and Fortnum and Mason used to hire them out! The National Caravan Council was founded in 1939 and caravans were used during the Second World War.

Note: The word caravan does not come from Romany, where they are a relatively recent addition, but from the Persian (karwan). It is the origin of the word ‘van’.

4. Wacky facts:

One round trip in a jet across the Atlantic is likely to keep 2,000 caravanners in extra petrol for the year (working on an average of 2,000 caravanning miles p.a.)

An oil sheikh has ordered what is thought to be the world’s largest (and possibly most expensive) mothorhome. The 40ft Desert Challenger cost £1 million and has a 13-litre engine – it carries 2,500 litres of diesel. (Source: Channel 4 news)

Rather unlikely caravanners include Wayne Hemingway, founder of Red or Dead, Jay Kay of Jamiroquai and Robbie Williams, who both used motorhomes whilst on tour, Dame Helen Mirren, who is not perhaps a prime suspect, and Will Smith, who (allegedly) has a two-storey motorhome complete with dance floor …

Ends

Editors’ notes

The NCC is the representative body for the caravan, motorhome and caravan holiday home industry, with approximately 500 member companies.

Press contact: Louise Wood, PR Manager, NCC, tel: 01252 796064, mobile: 07786 317629, email: louisew@nationalcaravan.co.uk