This year's CARAVAN SALON DÜSSELDORF has impressively proven that the holiday form caravanning inspires people and that trade fairs can be carried out successfully even in times of Corona.
Messe Düsseldorf and the Caravaning Industrie Verband e. V. (CIVD) draw a very positive balance. “With 107,000 visitors, the CARAVAN SALON sends an important signal for the entire trade fair industry in Germany and Europe. The world's most important trade fair for caravanning impressed with its well-thought-out hygiene and infection protection concept,” says Erhard Wienkamp, Managing Director of Messe Düsseldorf. "The entire team of Messe Düsseldorf and the CIVD as well as all employees of our exhibitors made this fair a great experience with great commitment and passion - the passion for mobile leisure was palpable at all times over the past ten days," added Wienkamp. The atmosphere on the exhibition grounds was excellent.
The first major trade fair after the lockdown was extremely well received by 107,000 visitors
The fact that more newcomers and many young families have visited caravanning fair is also gratifying. CIVD President Hermann Pfaff was enthusiastic about the course of the CARAVAN SALON: “Given the circumstances, this number of visitors is a very good result. The fact that there are a particularly large number of newcomers among them and the average age has fallen significantly shows that we are currently experiencing an influx of completely new customers. The success of the event is not just measured by the number of visitors, but above all by the sales deals - and these were consistently even higher than in the record previous year. Added to this is the very valuable direct feedback from customers, which manufacturers can only obtain at a trade fair. In addition, the professional exchange on the largest B2B platform in our industry is of great value for the exhibitors. "
Highly satisfied exhibitors with very good sales results
The CARAVAN SALON exhibitors were also enthusiastic about the course of the trade fair and reported very good sales deals. “After initial scepticism, we are overall very happy that we presented our products at this year's CARAVAN SALON in Düsseldorf. Although the number of visitors was limited, our Hobby sales team had their hands full. Our customers - including many young people - were extremely interested and at the same time very patient and relaxed. In addition to our vehicles, the well-thought-out hygiene concept was also very well received by the visitors and the distances were observed. In summary, the CARAVAN SALON was a really nice trade fair - even under these special conditions,” says Hobby CEO Holger Schulz. Dr. Holger Siebert, Managing Director of Eura Mobil GmbH and Trigano Deutschland KG: “This CARAVAN SALON was a special one. In a complicated time, we held the first major trade fair in Germany. The atmosphere was relaxed and positive, and everyone involved was very happy with the result. Our thanks as an exhibitor go to Messe Düsseldorf, which did a perfect job in advance and during the event. As the Trigano Group, with 15,000 square meters of exhibition space for 20 brands in the motorhome, caravan, accessories, and rental sectors, we had confidence in the trade fair, and this decision was the right one. All brands have increased their sales. The new Contura on a Mercedes chassis celebrated its premiere at the premium brand Eura Mobil.
The few providers of tents and roof tents are extremely satisfied too
The stands of the tent and rooftop tent suppliers were well attended, especially since the community of "real" campers was very well informed about the innovations in the products, especially the suppliers in the first place GentleTent from Vienna, who surprised with two absolute novelties in the field of air tents: a longitudinally aligned roof tent for two people, so that the remaining roof area can still be used for a roof box, two bicycles or the surfboard / canoe. This so-called GT Roof Mini, which was also presented on a small car, attracted visitors almost magically. The second novelty almost went under, an inflatable tent awning, which was initially intended for van vehicles, simply pulled into a piping rail and then inflated on the support column and can thus be quickly assembled and dismantled as an easily handled tent roof as rain and sun protection . The demand from panel van and caravan customers for a higher variant quickly became very popular.
Entry-level models of panel vans also pleasantly surprised
The modern entry-level brand Forster was particularly popular with the significantly younger trade fair visitors this year, especially entry-level vans for less than 35,000 euros. The traditional brand Karmann-Mobil was able to benefit from the trend towards vans / panel vans on a significantly enlarged exhibition stand. The Spanish brand Benimar was represented in Düsseldorf for the first time and made an impressive entry into the market on a 900 square meter stand. "
“Despite all the special circumstances, this year's CARAVAN SALON was a complete success. As one of the most beautiful and currently safest forms of vacation, caravanning has enormous potential - this was clearly shown by the trade fair,” says Gerd Adamietzki, CSO of Knaus Tabbert AG. “We are very pleased that the fair was able to take place in Düsseldorf. It offers us the perfect setting to present our products. And our renewed growth rates show: The innovations from Knaus Tabbert inspire customers, caravanning has arrived in the middle of society. In short: The CARAVAN SALON 2020 exceeded our expectations. This is also thanks to the exemplary implementation of the hygiene and safety concept at Messe Düsseldorf. "Bernd Wuschack, Managing Director Sales, Marketing and Customer Service of the Carthago Group:" CARAVAN SALON 2020 required a lot of courage in times of the pandemic. Courage from Messe Düsseldorf, exhibitors and dealers as well as visitors. This courage paid off for everyone involved: the audience behaved in a very disciplined and careful manner, our specially developed trade fair concept with separate meeting islands met with a very positive response, and Messe Düsseldorf's hygiene concept was also successful. Whether Carthago or Malibu - the very interested visitors accepted the numerous innovations from our motorhome brands extremely well. They were also enthusiastic about the relaxed trade fair atmosphere on our stands. In view of the unique circumstances, this year's CARAVAN SALON was a really very successful trade fair for the Carthago Group. Now our trading partners and we are expecting an equally successful trade fair post-trade. "
Mike Reuer, Managing Director of Westfalia Mobil GmbH, also draws a positive balance: “We are happy to have decided to participate in the CARAVAN SALON and to have presented our products here. In accordance with the hygiene concept, there were fewer trade fair visitors in the halls than in previous years - but we see an increased and specific interest of visitors in the subject of "box vans and campervans". The positive result is that direct sales to end customers are significantly higher than in the previous year. In our opinion, the trade fair implemented the prescribed hygiene concept very well. The visitors were very disciplined, wore masks and waited at a distance to inspect the vehicles. In our case, these were further apart on the significantly larger stand area, which made it easier to route and provided sufficient waiting rooms on the vehicles. The discussions at the booth and in the guest area were very relaxed, safe and very informal thanks to the separating discs we installed on the tables.
Compact kitchens also of great interest
The trade fair was also successful for the suppliers in the "TechnikOrder" area with technical equipment, expansion parts and installations. “We are satisfied and can look back on a very successful trade fair. Customers have to see in a direct exchange which innovations and new products are on the market - so I'm happy about the return to normal. For the many newcomers to the caravanning industry, the CARAVAN SALON is the ideal opportunity to find out more and get a comprehensive overview. Of course, there were far fewer people overall, but the quality of customer contacts with intensive and long-lasting discussions was very high. We noticed that a surprising number of well-informed visitors came to our stand with specific requests, "says John-David Pozzi, Managing Director of Fiamma S.p.A ." It was absolutely the right decision to be an exhibitor here in Düsseldorf. The CARAVAN SALON offers us ideal opportunities to get direct feedback from our end customers. We noticed a high level of efficiency in the discussions and a very focused audience, and we are satisfied with the results.
The exhibitors from the industrial supplier industry who were there rate the trade fair as positive - even if, as expected, fewer B2B contacts were recorded. Manufacturers and visitors felt equally comfortable and safe, and above all the consideration and attentiveness towards other people was very noticeable and beneficial,” said Nicolaus Hirsch, managing director of A. Linnepe GmbH.
The 60th CARAVAN SALON Düsseldorf will take place from August 27 to September 5, 2021.
Please read as well:
Caravan Salon Düsseldorf - Exploring Luegallee
Finne Mountain range - biking with the HNF UD 3 all-terrain