Status: 01/14/2023 08:43 a.m
Fairy lights and beer dispenser in the trunk – friends of the mobile home are increasingly pouncing on details. And the CMT tourism trade fair also shows that the Germans’ desire to travel has almost returned to normal.
Cars as far as the eye can see. Anyone who enters the halls of Messe Stuttgart from today may need a few moments to realize that this is about vacation. Because there are no palm trees under the trade fair roof, no sound of the sea trickling from the loudspeakers. Instead, plenty of horsepower. “1200 caravans, mobile homes and leisure vehicles” is how the CMT, the “world’s largest holiday trade fair”, advertises one of its focal points this year. And it has at least four wheels.
From small trailers to luxury vehicles
“The demand for mobile homes and caravans is unbroken,” says Alexander Ege, the director of CMT. What fascinates people about living and traveling in a mobile home? “The independence, of course.”
And so there is something for every taste in the Stuttgart exhibition halls: from small trailers to luxury caravans. And here at the latest it becomes clear that not all campers are the same. “Some love the freedom of caravanning, that ‘I always have my bed and my kitchen with me’ – and others are put off by exactly that,” says Alexander Ege.
Investment in self-development
“Everyone does it the way they like it”, this is also the experience of Peter Draeger, one of the operators of the website vansforfriends.de. In a corner of exhibition hall 10, he has set up a “living room” for camper fans: a kind of counter made of pallets, a sofa, and a few potted plants. Unpretentious understatement. Or not?
“Yes, you think that’s an understatement, but when you see how much love and money people put into converting their mobile homes, then that’s not an understatement, it’s done really smartly,” says Draeger. In general, the trend this year is “things, as we call it. Frills. The chain of lights, the little things: everything that makes your own van more individual.” A few rows further, this individualism has led to a beer tap in the trunk, which taps fresh beer at the push of a button – straight from the barrel.
Travel industry is booming again
In the neighboring hall, on the other hand, champagne is more on the agenda than self-draught, because this is where the luxury vehicles of the mobile home segment are presented – and they can sometimes cost 800,000 euros. Per vehicle. But with real leather living area and integrated garage for the car in the rear.
“Travel is a top priority for people,” explains CMT boss Ege. “Most people save in everyday life, for example on clothing or leisure activities, in order to be able to travel like in the pre-Corona times.”
In fact, the travel behavior of Germans has now almost reached the level it was before the pandemic. Long-distance travel is possible again and in great demand, the Mediterranean region is seeing an increase in bookings.
Germany very popular
During the pandemic, however, many seem to have discovered Germany as a travel destination for themselves, because this year it is in great demand, especially for short vacations. “People want to experience something,” says Exhibition Director Ege, “and they want to travel consciously. Interest in nature has increased significantly in recent years, people are out and about by bike, by boat, or they go hiking, to To experience things that you don’t experience with a car.”
Nevertheless, many do not want to do without the car, according to a survey by the “Research Association for Holidays and Travel”. According to this, twelve percent of those surveyed stated that they wanted to spend their next vacation in a mobile home and another ten percent with a camping trailer. Ascending trend.
Problems caused by too many campers
vansforfriends operator Draeger is not surprised. “We always say: freedom, family, friendship – that’s what van life, life in a caravan, is all about. That I can move freely with the people who are important to me.”
But even as an individual camper you have to travel carefully, because: “Vanlifers also leave their mark and we too have to be careful that no overtourism develops. If you look at Portugal, for example, it was still a paradise a few years ago. And now there are so many Camper that there is also stress. And then that becomes difficult.”