Caravan Industry Association of Australia has released its National Visitor Economy Report this week, the key quarter report on all the caravanning holiday statistics for the last three months.
The December report has one big take-away, despite rising outbound international travel numbers in the baby boomer market, in both flight and cruising sectors caravanning in Australia has held its ground, once again demonstrating the industry’s resilience.
Despite the shift in the baby boomer market, numbers have remained stable. There was a total of 15.2 million overnight caravan and camping trips at Y/E December 2023—a small increase on the previous year but still a sizeable 9 per cent up on 2019.
Caravan Industry Association of Australia CEO Stuart Lamont has welcomed the statistics, stating that they showcase just how tenacious the caravan industry is.
“Despite other markets rebounding post covid the caravanning and family park appeal remains as strong as ever. One of the biggest points is the number of families spending time in their caravans or in one of the industry’s many holiday parks.”
When we look at who is embarking upon drive holidays, we see the 30-54 year demographic or “family package” hitting the roads. This speaks directly to the industry’s value for money proposition, something the industry prides itself on. Having a high-quality offering for everyone at any price point.
“The caravan and camping sector are vitally important to Australia’s visitor economy, particularly our regional and rural areas, looking at the latest figures it is easy to see these numbers will have a direct flow on effect to these areas” he says.
“These visitors spend more than $8.1 billion directly in region whilst they travel which in turn supports local economies, job creation and regional communities.”
In total to December 2023, 60.6 million nights were spent in a caravan or in a park, numbers that still hold the industry up on 2019 numbers by 3 per cent.
“Although the numbers are encouraging, there is still a need to remain firmly focussed on supporting domestic tourism. Ensuring our regional and remote economies continue to receive much needed support and growth through dispersal away from the big city centres, an effect we are still seeing as travellers come back to our shores.”
