Caravan & Motorhome Show, Manchester - a great success!
The Caravan & Motorhome Show 2012’s decision to move to a new venue – Event City – from its traditional G-Mex home has been an inspired choice.
The show opened last Thursday (19th January) to an exceptional number of visitors, with the Show Director, Sam North, telling Club Care Insurance that attendance on the opening day was in excess of 8,500 people surpassing that of the first two days last year! Some minor teething troubles were experienced with the new venue: parking delays, lack of water supply and insufficient catering, but overall the event was a roaring success.
Club Care Insurance Marketing Manager, Stuart Craig, was one of the first people through the doors. He commented: “I couldn’t believe my eyes at the number of people present. It caught everybody on the hop. Car parks struggled to cope initially, exhibitors didn’t have enough staff to deal with customers and walking through the aisles was like a scene from March of the Penguins! The busiest day I’ve seen at a caravan show for years.”
Early teething troubles were soon solved and people were left to enjoy over 200 exhibitors showcasing the latest in caravans, motorhomes and accessories, with The Camping and Caravanning Club running free to attend towing sessions!
Club Care Insurance offered visitors the chance to win a Peugeot 3008 towcar and the entire stand of The Camping and Caravanning Club was a hive of activity every day.
One of the strangest exhibits ever seen at any caravan show was provided by new slide-out caravan manufacturer - Eterniti. Stuart Craig explains: “Their prototype models suffered a shipping delay from Indiana USA and hadn’t arrived. They had a massive stand and were forced to resort to a floorplan stuck to the carpet with people walking around on it! Bizarre. It didn’t seem to dampen enthusiasm though.”
Event City is on the edge of the massive Trafford Centre shopping complex, so benefits from free car parking, easy access from the motorway network, decent public transport, loads of restaurants within walking distance and plenty of hotel accommodation for exhibitors and visitors alike. The venue itself consists of three halls and offers plenty of space to give visitors a decent selection of exhibits. For example, the number of motorhomes on display was up 261% on last year.
Final attendance figures were yet to be confirmed at the time of writing but in excess of 20,000 visitors were anticipated. Next year’s show dates will be announced on the Club Care Insurance website as soon as they are confirmed by the organisers.
