REDIRECTING TRAVELS
I spoke with Stuart Lamont, the CEO of Caravan Industry Association of Australia for his big-picture perspective. His organisation is at the tip of the spear in terms of lobbying the federal government on behalf of the RV and holiday park industries, helping to shape policies that affect us all. His take is on the optimistic side, noting that for now, it appears that Australians haven’ t halted their travels en masse; rather, they are redirecting their travels, opting for destinations that are closer to home. This bodes poorly, however, for the annual grey nomad northern migration.
This winter, the Caravan Industry Association of Australia expects that vanners based in the south will chase the sun in less northern latitudes, such as the mid-north coast of New South Wales. The affects on tourism up north are already being felt, Mr Lamont said.
Caravan Industry Association of Australia CEO Stuart Lamont.
“ There are caravan parks that are absolutely bleeding and will have a horror winter, but there will be others that have a great winter as people redirect their travels,” he said.
That said, there are pockets within the Australian RV industry that are holding their own.
“ I’ m not going to sugar-coat it and say it isn’ t tough out there, but it is now a different market and manufacturers and dealers will need to work harder for their deals,” he said.
But it’ s also a buyer’ s market, which means opportunity for savvy customers. However, the uncertainty is likely to benefit the bigger players – manufacturers who can afford to heavily discount their products and perhaps offer a psychological certainty that the smaller players can’ t.
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