Plans announced less than three weeks ago for a new London caravan show have been scrapped.
We reported that a new industry-backed show, to be held at the ExCel Arena in London, had been announced for Autumn 2011 to compete with the annual International Caravan and Motorhome show at Birmingham’s NEC.
However, since then the organisers of the new show (the National Caravan Council), and the Birmingham show (Clarion Events) have met, and the latter has agreed to step away from its caravan show business.
As a result, the National Caravan Council (NCC) has instead taken over the tenancy of the Birmingham NEC show.
For show visitors, that means very little has changed. The show will now be known as the Motorhome and Caravan Show and will run from 11-16 October 2011.
There are still two caravan shows planned at the NEC: one in spring and one in autumn. The promise of cheaper entry prices for the autumn show remains in place so hopefully show attendance in 2011 will be stronger.
Explaining the reasons behind the change, NCC Director General John Lally said: “We are committed to continuing the excellent service Clarion has provided and that customers have come to expect. We will now look to deliver additional value by reducing costs and further improve the customer experience.”
The big losers are undoubtedly motorcaravanners in the south east who are once again left with no national caravan show anywhere nearby.