How big is the market increase of the RV tourism that has broken the circle many times?

According to Binzhou Cultural Tourism:

RVs, camping... There are also many in this May Day holiday. According to a number of OTA data, during the May Day holiday, the RV campgrounds around the city are optimistic, and some places have also appeared the phenomenon of "one camp is difficult to find". Tuniu even used the title "Half of the circle of friends are camping". When people's WeChat circle of friends is "dominated" by the photos of RVs, and many times the circle of RV tourism, how big is the market increment?

01C6 Driver's License: Bring the "caravan dream" into reality

It is the bright and good season of spring, the caravan campsite on the outskirts of Chengdu is very lively, or a family, or relatives and friends have set up folding tables and chairs, the aroma of coffee accompanied by the fragrance of tea wafts, and the original unknown car friends quickly chatted and enjoyed a comfortable time together.

"I think a lot of people have this dream, drive a motorhome, bring your loved ones, the grasslands, the Gobi, the seaside, just go." Mr. Zhao, a RV enthusiast who has been "in the pit" for 3 years, told reporters that although affected by the epidemic, the current RV tourism has returned from the distant starry sky wilderness to the riverside meadows around the city, but he has always insisted on taking his family on a trip once a week. Influenced by Mr. Zhao, many friends around him have gradually liked caravan tourism, and they often travel in groups. In their view, motorhome travel is a fashion.

Since April 1 this year, the Ministry of Public Security's newly revised "Regulations on the Application and Use of Motor Vehicle Driving Licenses" has been officially implemented, and the C6 driver's license for light traction trailers such as trailer trailers has been introduced. This made Mr. Zhao's car friend group "explode". "If you want to start a motorhome tour, you must first have a car and an eligible driver's license. In fact, compared with high-priced self-propelled caravans, many people have an urgent need to use trailerS. However, before that, the trailer motorhome lacked corresponding driving norms on the road, and there was a certain risk of accidents. Nowadays, it is possible to obtain a C6 driver's license, and the relevant regulations also make up for the lack of supervision, making it safer to tow trailerS on the road. "Mr. Zhao said that he already had friends around him to get a C6 driver's license." Although they won't get a motorhome right away, they'll choose to rent one. Now the rental of motorhomes ranges from 1,000 to 3,000 yuan per day, and these people can still afford it. Mr. Zhao said.

Jiangsu Rugao RV enthusiast Ge Luoru was interviewed by a reporter from China Tourism News through a video link, and he was packing up his RV and preparing to leave for a vacation in the surrounding camps. "The emergence of the C6 driver's license has made more people realize their caravan dreams." In Ge Luoru's view, trailer caravans are very suitable for families who do not often drive RVs to travel, usually put the caravan in the parking garage at home, drive the tractor out, and "hang" on the need to go, which is very convenient. It's like a mobile home on a journey, you don't have to worry about eating, living, and traveling, and playing wherever you go.

With the car and the "photo", the quality of the supporting services will directly affect the travel quality of the caravan tourist.

Groro bought a caravan 6 years ago, in the eyes of many car friends, Groh ru saw the development of domestic caravan tourism. "At the beginning, the supporting facilities of caravan tourism were really not good, and we often worried about charging and diverting water to the caravan on the road. As more and more RVs have entered more and more homes in recent years, there have been more dedicated RV campgrounds. Now in some places in Jiangsu, there are places in the highway service area that are specially charged for RVs, and some are still free, and it is convenient to travel a lot. However, until now, not all places can create good supporting services for caravan tourism, and some places have either high fees, or the facilities are too simple, and some places can't find a suitable 'place to stay'. Therefore, parking difficulties have always been a matter of RV riders scratching their heads. Ge Luoru said that how to make caravan tourism have a better development space requires multi-faceted efforts.

02 Market players: aiming at the blue ocean of caravan tourism

In the face of a market with expanding demand, is the RV market really ready?

According to relevant statistics, as the popularity of caravan tourism continues to heat up, the orders of some caravan manufacturers will increase by 40%-50% per year from 2020. In 2021, a total of 182 caravan companies declared 567 new cars. The relevant person in charge of happy car dealership told the media that this year, with the launch of the C6 driver's license, the number of inquiries about RVs has increased to a certain extent, especially the trailer-mounted RVs, and the recent inquiries have increased.

"Compared with the starting price of 400,000 to 500,000 yuan for self-propelled motorhomes, trailer-mounted RVs show greater choices. First of all, in terms of price, trailer-mounted RVs are cheaper than 100,000 yuan, and good performance is 150,000 to 200,000 yuan, which is more acceptable to mass consumers. Li Leigang, general manager of Dorsett (Changzhou) Vehicle Technology Co., Ltd., introduced that with the trend of younger caravan enthusiasts, RV manufacturers have developed many new products for the demands of young people in addition to improving cost performance." For example, the 'Dorsett Cube' we developed, starting from 'play', creates a 'versatile space' to make the layout of the trailer more diverse. The flexible and movable partition enables the space inside the car to be freely combined, and the space is adjusted according to the composition structure and living mode of the rider. ”

Of course, it is not only the car companies that want to seize the blue ocean of caravan tourism, but also the RV campground as another market player is also trying to upgrade. According to Ai Media Consulting data, in 2021, the scale of the campground market will grow rapidly, with a growth rate of 78%, and the market size will reach 29.9 billion yuan. It is expected that the market growth rate will reach 18.6% in 2022, and the market size will reach 35.46 billion yuan.

Some caravan campsites have noticed the complaints of caravan enthusiasts, and have also realized that the professionalism of campsites is increasingly valued by motorists, especially the area and supporting facilities of caravan camps. The reporter searched on the Xiaohongshu APP and found that there were tens of thousands of notes on the caravan campsite. "In Beijing Yanqing Haituo Valley caravan camp, each caravan camp can reach a single area of 600 square meters, in a relatively spacious space, there is also a platform that can set up a camping tent, a campfire barbecue area and a children's play area, and a green isolation belt is designed to ensure the privacy of the camp..." The detailed introduction of RV enthusiast Mr. Chen in his notes has attracted a lot of "sweet potato powder" onlookers, and some directly want to go to the campsite booking method.

The reporter noted in the interview that in order to meet the diversified entertainment needs of riders, many campgrounds have begun to work the setting of experience projects, for example, Hubei Shuishui Automobile Campground has specially set up real CS (simulated outdoor competitive sports), jungle off-road vehicles, bamboo rafting, fishing and other experience projects, and linked with the surrounding scenic spots. "In recent years, various types of caravan campsites have been exploring the 'camp +' model, some mainly for research and study, and some for health care. In addition, many campgrounds also provide RV rental, sales, driving training and other services, so that more tourists can experience the caravan life on the go. Li Leigang said.

In fact, motorhome travel also has an "off-peak season". From May to October, due to the favorable climate, there are many tourists who drive RVs out to camp. From November to February, the market was also relatively cold due to the low temperature.

In order to seize the peak season market, "circle fans" RV enthusiasts, some online travel platforms have also "gone down". Tuniu has recently launched the "Qinghai Lake Caravan Parent-child Experience Camp" and "Parent-Child Study Camp Qinghai 7-Day Tour" and other caravan private groups, through a car-by-car customized service to let tourists feel the fun of "traveling with home", in addition, also launched the "Starry Sky Cantonese Celebrity Chef + Foshan Celebrity Chef + Caravan Self-driving 2-Day Tour" and other seasonal Internet celebrity products.

03 Industry insiders: RV campsite construction is the key

RV tourism can be said to be a new way of tourism with rapid development in recent years, although many market players are trying to upgrade services, but "market demand is very strong, supply is relatively insufficient" is still the main problem in the current RV tourism market.

In the view of Liu Hanqi, secretary general of the Self-driving Tour and Camping Caravan Branch of the China Tourist Vehicle and Boat Association, caravan and camping tourism are inseparable. At present, the mainland caravan camping market has just started, on the whole, the real caravan parking in various places, the campsites for the leisure and entertainment of riders are very small, and there is still a problem that infrastructure and service investment is not in place. Because "you can't get off the bus", the development of caravan tourism is also restricted to a certain extent. "The main reason is the lack of investor confidence." Liu Hanqi analyzed that the investment in caravan campsites is relatively large, less than a few million yuan, and the fastest need to achieve a balance between input and output within 3-5 years. However, at present, the prospects of campgrounds in many places are not matched due to land use policies, and there are still a few investors who are willing to spend large prices in this case. If the relevant departments support it, the problem of the quality development of campsites is expected to be better solved. "In addition, while building the campground, the operator must put the protection of tourist safety in the first place, strengthen the safety protection of the campground and the corresponding safety tips." Liu Hanqi reminded.

"Outdoor travel life is beautiful, from the demand side, caravan travel first needs reliable quality, complete functions and comfortable caravans, followed by the need to take everyone to the distant highways, national and provincial highways composed of road network, and again along the tourism route safe and comfortable caravan campgrounds and corresponding services." Compared with European and American countries, in addition to a relatively developed traffic network, there is indeed a lot of room for improvement in the other two aspects. Lin Guangxu, a professor at the School of Tourism and Economic Management of Chengdu University, said. He has been engaged in the economic research of caravan tourism for many years and is also a senior motorhome tourism enthusiast. How to break the situation and build a camp network throughout the country is the focus of Lin Guangxu's thinking. "The mainland caravan tourism market has just started, and there are still some restrictions on the construction of the current caravan camp, including the difficulty of approving commercial land in rural areas, some camps are only used as supporting products for real estate projects, and the camps with parking as the main one lack commercial services and poor profits." Under the current situation, you can try to use the vacant land of homestays, rural hotels, and farmyards along the tour route to create a rural caravan micro-camp, and ask a company that specializes in caravan micro-campsites to manage, which may be able to solve part of the problem of campsite construction. Moreover, the introduction of RVs into the countryside can also awaken all the tourism resources around the countryside. In the context of rural revitalization, how to bring more passenger flow to the countryside, caravans may become a new attempt. ”

Zhang Mingyang, a senior researcher at Tongcheng Research Institute, believes that in the long run, caravan tourism will inevitably usher in new development opportunities, in order to maintain the healthy development of the industry, not only need the relevant departments to continue to promote and guide, but also to form a complete set of caravan tourism industry chain, in how to improve the cycle utilization rate of caravan travel also needs to be jointly solved by all parties in society. For example, China's caravan tourism is characterized by a party type, which is different from the small family-based travel style in foreign countries. Therefore, the development of caravan tourism requires the introduction of more standards, management methods and incentive policies, but these should be based on the consumption habits of tourists and the coordinated development of equipment manufacturing and camp construction.

Source: China Tourism News