Staycations lead to boom

Increasing numbers of people enjoying staycations have led to booming sales and a supply shortage, says Roundstone Caravans.

Increasing numbers of people enjoying staycations have led to a sales boom for a caravan company near Horsham.

And demand for touring caravans has been so high that Roundstone Caravans at Southwater sold almost all of its stock over the past year and has struggled to get more.

Roundstone managing director Rosie Kent said: “Sales have been very strong over the last year compared to prepandemic levels.”

Before the coronavirus crisis, sales of touring caravans had been declining year on year, she said, largely due to a growth in popularity of motor homes and campervans.

“Touring caravanning definitely saw a resurgence last year as people opted for staycations,” said Rosie.

“What this has meant for us is that we sold almost all of our stock of touring caravans over the last year and have struggled to replenish stock as consumers have been opting to use their touring caravans and haven’t been looking to sell them. The same goes for large static holiday homes with parks, who would normally sell us used holiday homes, choosing to keep hold of stock as demand for holiday rentals is so high.

“There are also supply issues with new touring caravans and new holiday homes with factories struggling to make up for all the time lost during the shutdowns and staff having to follow social distancing rules.

“Manufacturers of both touring caravans and holiday homes widely report issues with getting hold of materials.

“So although demand is high, there are real issues with supply which look set to continue for the foreseeable future.”

RoundStone Caravans also has a holiday park in Jackrells Lane, Southwater - Raylands Park - which is an over 50s park. All holiday homes there are privately owned.

“We are seeing unprecedented demand for Raylands and had a big boom in sales since we reopened this month,” said Rosie.

“With more and more people working from home there is more demand to have a weekend retreat closer to home.”