Dutch people love camping

There's a good chance that you had a wonderful holiday in a camper or caravan last summer. There is a record number of caravans and campers in the Netherlands. According to official figures from trade organizations BOVAG and Kampeer en Caravan Industrie (KCI), our country had more than 550.000 caravans and campers for the first time at the start of the summer holidays.

Never before so many campers and caravans

On the chosen reference date of July 1, 2018, there were 437.442 caravans and 115.359 campers in the Netherlands. “Never before have the Dutch owned so many camping equipment,” says Hans Louwers, secretary of the Camping & Caravan Industry (KCI). “And then we only count the registered caravans and campers. If we also add the light caravans without their own license plate, the trailer tents and all the tents, we estimate that we arrive at a number of more than one and a half million camping equipment. Moreover, there are 3,9 million Dutch people who camp one or more times a year.”

Nice camping

Sales of new campers increased by 2018 percent in the first half of 16,1 compared to the first half of 2017, to 1.461 units. Caravan sales remained stable compared to the previous year, at 4.426 units, or 80 fewer (1,8 percent). Siewert Gorter, chairman of BOVAG Caravan and Camper Companies: “In terms of the number of caravans per capita, we are, together with Sweden, the European leader and probably even the world leader. The number of campers in the Netherlands has doubled in the past ten years and trailer tents have also made a comeback. We are and will remain a camping country through and through.”