Caravaning Brno 2024: What a Ride!

Great atmosphere throughout the four days

However, what is more important than all the figures? The expo had an amazing atmosphere, attracted the entire community and literally became a sectoral festival for the whole four days. People made purchases, ordered goods, met up, had fun, shared experiences, advice and travel tips. Thanks to an attractive programme, great ambassadors who were mainly well-known faces and, above all, exhibitors who brought many new products, the topic of caravanning and camping came to the forefront of media attention. "Caravaning Brno has once again grown a little bigger than it was last year, and I am very happy about that. Each hall has its own vibes, you will find there exactly what you are looking for and what you are interested in. We are pleased that there are more than 200 exhibitors here, and we have managed to connect Caravaning with the Travel Zone," said Jan Kubata, CEO of Trade Fairs Brno, at the opening of the expo. "At Caravanning, one learns not only what to drive, but also where to go," added traveller Pepa Vrtal aka Fotr na Tripu.

Travellers‘ euphoria and new items across the halls

Three full halls offered visitors a cross-section of all segments that are available on the market. 

The number of exhibitors and individual exhibits showed the steady boom that caravanning is experiencing and where the trend of independent travel is constantly heading. Did you know that the number of registered motorhomes and caravans has quadrupled in the last ten years? There are around 70 thousand of them cruising the country today, with an estimated 50 thousand more that have undergone DIY conversions.

Travel & Adventure in Hall V

Offroad caravans, mini caravans, motorhomes, accessories and equipment – but that's not all that occupied Hall V.  Most of the interest was in new technologies and applications for travel, but also in sustainable and eco-friendly travel. The extra programme consisted of interesting lectures and workshops, featuring travel experts and practitioners. No wonder that the Adventure Village was under siege all the time, as it attracted both children and adults with entertainment, good coffee and food.  The new Travel Zone concept presented regions, cities and individual destinations from Czechia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Austria, US and other places. Visitors competed for a holiday in the Maldives, tried regional specialties and tasted a wide range of wines. The hall was scented with lavender, sweet cream rolls or honey-based products. There was also a children's corner in Hall V, which was completely full throughout the four days.

Premium Hall F and traditional Hall P

Visitors could find premium brands in Hall F, including the most luxurious hotels on wheels that can accommodate, for example, a sports car in their guts. And even though there were only seven exhibitors, this hall was completely filled. Hall P hosted motorhomes, caravans and vans of all makes and categories. Visitors could also see several Czech or European premieres at the fair. In front of Hall P was the traditional caravan bazaar.

Accessories - from solar panels to camping equipment

In Hall P, you could find all kinds of accessories for caravans, whether for safety, comfort inside the living space, exterior cleaning and more – in short, everything you could possibly need for your caravan during your travels or for its maintenance. There were also stations for electrical autonomy, solar panels, portable air conditioners and folding bikes.

Pepa Vrtal, Vandráci and Vanda Hybnerová faced thousands of fans

The extra programme took place on two separate stages and brought many interesting travel talks, useful advice for caravanners and news from legislation.  Crowds of visitors followed the programme throughout the four days in both Hall V and Hall P, with the expo  ambassadors being the most successful.

On Friday, when Vanda Hybnerová talked about the Balkans and Pavel Liška and Honza Révai talked about their trip to the island of Papua New Guinea, the audience had to watch standing in several rows in front of the stage. On Saturday, Pepa Vrtal aka Fotr na Tripu triumphed with his travels to haunted places; his fans stood in the side aisles, and it looked like he was going to "tear down" Hall P. 

However, great feedback was received by all the debaters – whether it was the Czech-Polish priest Zbigniew Czendlik, Jakub Moravec, Jan Pacovský and Martin Gerša, Martin Vyroubal or DvaVanDraci.

Thanks to the cooperation with the expo's sponsor, the Association of Camping and Caravanning in the Czech Republic, podcasts were also recorded live for Studio Karavan for the first time at the expo.

Not only a caravan can be a pet

Many caravanners and travellers have a place in their hearts for a four-legged pet in addition to their four-wheeled darling, and this was more than obvious at the Brno Exhibition Centre. Of course, we welcome the four-legged friends of caravanning and adventure to the exhibition grounds, and wish them to enjoy their visit as much as their owners do.

What people said about the expo

Jan Kubata, BVV Trade Fairs Brno

I am absolutely satisfied; I have visited as many companies as possible, and I can see the visitor turnout figures. With the companies we did not discuss whether they should come again, but what they would like us to do next year and add to the expo. That's a good sign that companies are already counting on it. I would like to wish everyone to have a constant reason to come to Brno and find here what they are looking for. Because Caravaning is a group of people who are on the same wavelength.

Jan Bordovský, Association of Camping and Caravanning of the Czech Republic

I thought that last year's edition would remain unbeatable for a long time. But this year's fair has once again shattered all expectations. The excellent facilities and approach of the organisers to caravanners, the increasingly rich offer of exhibitors of all categories, interesting visitors and, last but not least, the extremely attractive extra programme are a combination that makes Caravaning Brno the event of the year in our industry.

Pepa Vrtal aka Fotr na Tripu, presenter and traveller

I think it is a record year again. There are a lot more people and everyone was happy. Every night I saw exhibitors falling off and reaching the end of their tether, tired of the rush of interest, all the presentations, all the questions. What surprised me, there were a lot of things being sold, mobile living is still an interesting segment, it's still a big trend, and my thanks go to everyone who organizes this show.

Pavel Liška, actor and traveller, Vandráci

This is my first time at this expo, and I have to say that I am completely overwhelmed by it. I'm here at the right time and in the right place, as I'm approaching my sixties, I need a bit of comfort and a home to travel, as the mosquito net has become too small for me by now.

Vanda Hybnerová, actress

I think that meeting at trade shows is meaningful when people are there in person to share their specific travel experiences. That is the greatest gift.

Kristýna Černá, Statutory City of Brno

The Caravaning Brno fair is one of those that enhance the theme of tourism. I am extremely glad that it has embodied this theme, is held in Brno and is successful.

Slovenia Michal Kůra, Director of the Slovenian Tourist Board

We have been to this expo several times, Slovenia is a traditional exhibitor, there were enough people, just as we needed. We had a large audience at our lecture on Slovenia. We are satisfied with the attendance and the level of the expo.

Moravian-Silesian Region Petra Měntilová, Tourism Department Administrator

We liked this year's expo very much. We like the connection with caravans, the fact that we are in a common hall, because they really pull, so the attendance at our stand was higher. We are happy with the approach of the fair administration, with the facilities, with the visitor turnout, simply with everything.

Pilsen Region Ilona Šnebergerová, Head of Tourism Department

We are quite satisfied. The turnout on Thursday and Friday was weaker, but Saturday's attendance was really excellent. The combination with Caravaning was really fine, not bad at all.

We are connected with the service of the Brno Exhibition Centre; we have had our stand customized for the second time already and we are and it is to our liking. Yesterday's attendance was really great, we were satisfied. Thursday and Friday were weaker, and it would probably be good to think how to attract visitors on those days as well.

It is our first time at Caravaning, and we are very glad that we could join this exhibition. We did not come here alone, we have a large stand, more than 100 square meters, and we presented very interesting and impressive regions.

Kärnten Werbung Beatrix Gradischnig, agency representative

On behalf of the Carinthia Tourist Office, I must say that we are very pleased with our participation at the expo. We didn't expect it to be that way; more than a thousand people passed through our stand yesterday. Our supply of brochures is running low as we had not counted on that many visitors. We are also satisfied with the organisation of the expo, with the parking options and with the services in general.

Blue Rent, Pavel Horský, sales representative

The exhibition was very well organised and the cooperation with the representative of the exhibition centre was exemplary. From our point of view, the attendance was a bit smaller than last year, but we had more interesting customers coming in. Unlike the Dusseldorf exhibition, we do not usually sell directly at the Brno Caravaning exhibition, we are here primarily to introduce our prestigious brand to potential Czech customers.

Camping City, Tomáš Starý, Managing Director

This year's expo shows that there is a continuing interest in caravans in general. The turnout was excellent, there were a lot of customers and Brno is the standard leader in exhibitions in the Czech Republic. We have traditionally participated in the Caravaning exhibition, and we already know that we will be there next year as well.

Camping World Neugebauer, Kristián Holzbecher, co-owner of the company

Visitors to our stand reacted positively to our new models, distinctive with a more modern design language. In general, about the same number of people came in, but there was a higher proportion of visitors with a serious interest in specific categories of cars. People are now highly interested in larger cars, because they understand that a car for a family of four with better equipment will not fit into 3.5 tons. We are also taking a number of orders away from Brno, and visitors have appreciated that thanks to our 4 branches in Austria we have an above-standard stock of over 180 motorhomes for collection.

Caravan Metropol, Jaroslav Nikodém, jednatel společnosti

This year's surprise was Saturday, usually it used to be crowds and families with children, but this year it was mostly people who already know something about caravanning and are interested in specific things. That was great for us, we've sold quite a few cars and the interest in caravanning continues. The delivery times have improved, there's no longer a year's wait for the cars, but people are happy that they can buy a beautiful thing here and soon have it at home. We are also seeing that as prices have gone up, some groups of people are suddenly not getting into motorhomes and are focusing on caravans instead.

Centrum Moravia Olomouc, Aleš Staněk, Managing Director

We had a good time at the exhibition, I am here every year, and it is the most prestigious exhibition. This year was successful for us, we sold several cars here and commissioned cars for production, so this investment has definitely paid off. It's also a shift for our brand, we presented other divisions of our company here, because we also offer other Mercedes-Benz cars.

Neosolar a Victron Energy, Marián Veselý

The exhibition was demanding, we were here for the first time this year representing the Victron Energy brand, so our role here was more informative than purely commercial. Visitors often asked us technical questions about our products that they already have installed in their vehicles, or they wanted new systems and came to ask about specific products and systems that may not even be related to caravans, because we also supply systems for other market segments besides automotive.

TOPTRADE, Ivan Vávra, Managing Director

I am satisfied with the exhibition!

Hykro, Michal Kratochvíl, Sales Manager

The attendance gradually built up and the weekend was excellent. As far as interest is concerned, I was incredibly surprised that visitors not only came to look, but that they came specifically to inform themselves, there were many more people who were clearly interested in motorhomes or trailers. Organizationally, everything was perfectly arranged. On behalf of Hykro, we are delighted to have been able to attend.

KARAVANYPRO, Tomáš Brabec, owner

Traditionally, as every year, we are satisfied with the exhibition. This morning when I was vacuuming the carpet, I wanted to take a picture of it so I could have proof of how much people came in, the carpet was completely destroyed by so many vistors stepping on it, which means they liked our products a lot, and that makes me happy. Lots of customers, lots of targeted enquiries about electric autonomy, about the internet and about caravan equipment, so we're really pleased. And we'll definitely be coming back next year.

Karavan Centrum Morava, Vladimír Záhorec, owner

The attendance at the expo was good, the organisation and presentation by the expo company was excellent, there could not have been anything better. Even the support from BVV marketing was excellent, this is especially important for us. What worries us a bit is that it is such a nervous time, people are not yet in such a complete buying mood as we would like to see, so that we can get back better sales volumes. We'll hope for a better tomorrow.

Auto Bayer, Gabriela Zatloukalová

How would I rate all four show days? It was very rewarding, lots of visitors and I can reveal that lots of cars were sold. Compared to last year it was a 100% increase, so for us a great satisfaction and perfect results.

Backi, Sandra Jiras

How was it here this year? We are thrilled, it was great, the attendance was absolutely perfect, there were great people too. They went specifically for specific things, for specific brands. Visitors were visibly enjoying themselves, our Adventure Village concept worked great, people relaxed here, had a coffee, then went to do business, shop, so it was good for us.

Decathlon, Jakub Slovák, department leader of tourism department

It was a great experience, especially yesterday when there were a lot of people here and we had a lot of enthusiastic feedback about our participation. The same outside where we have an inflatable caravan, so for us satisfaction and also a great experience. This is the first exhibition for us in a long time of similarly oriented products and we are very happy about it.

iKamper, Petra Králová, Operations Manager

The exhibition was wonderful as every year. I think the attendance is weaker than it was last year or the year before, but again it was more fit for purpose. Commercially, it was a better result for us.

Life Style Camper, Martin Kostelný, sales representative

The show is absolutely fantastic. We were expecting a bit more people, but we are still very satisfied. It was great to present our products and to see that people liked it so much. And not just our products, but the whole exhibition.

Tent4rent, Jan Vážný, owner

The show is great because such shows are unique for us. It's a place where we can meet up with clients and talk to them. It's also great in terms of new clients and we're still getting feedback from existing clients.

Karavany Humpolec, Iveta Hromádková, owner

The exhibition is nice, but it seems to us that there are less people here compared to last year, which is a pity. On the other hand, we are very satisfied with the organization. It was interesting to see visitors comparing cars and planning to buy their first or next car and we were glad that we could help them clarify their ideas.

Vezeko, Denis Szabo, Sales Manager

On behalf of Vezeko, we are very satisfied with the show, there were more visitors than we expected. The biggest interest at our stand was in the alternative to the caravan in the form of a "mobile home", which we had on show here with two full bedrooms, kitchen, and bathroom. In caravans there is only a narrow space available, here there is plenty of room and people really liked this innovation. We will look forward to next year.