A high-flying caravan gave surprised tourists and Londoners a new perspective on caravanning as it was slowly craned into the sky above St Paul’s Cathedral and placed on the rooftop terrace at One New Change. It is the centrepiece of a pop-up City campsite to celebrate the boom in staycations and caravanning during the COVID pandemic.
Craning the caravan onto the rooftop required the expertise of highly experienced crane operators used to lifting heavy items in confined spaces, and had required many months of planning, including arranging temporary road closures and closely monitoring weather forecasts.
The huge rise in interest in staycations and caravanning during the COVID pandemic has set new records as people have found travelling with a caravan made it easier to manage social distancing and hygiene standards by travelling with their own facilities and living spaces.
One UK caravan manufacturer, Bailey of Bristol, says that during the COVID pandemic, its caravan sales have increased by 15 percent and motorhomes by 30 percent, visits to its website have hit one million for the first time ever and it almost tripled its number of Instagram followers. It’s also noticed an acceleration in the rise of a new, younger profile of customers, many with children, who are more technology savvy and spend more time online and on social media.
Similarly, the Caravan and Motorhome Club, which represents around one million caravan, motorhome, campervan and trailer tent owners in the UK, says it’s also had one of its busiest years as its members enjoyed getting out and about again, post lockdown, for UK staycations.
The caravan became the centrepiece for a party at the pop-up City campsite attended by celebrities, Olympians, Paralympians, athletes and media guests to celebrate enjoying the great outdoors, staycations and caravanning. They enjoyed stunning views across London as the sun set and had the opportunity to stay overnight in the caravan at such a unique location.
Celebrities attending the event included: Matt Allwright, Gary Mabbutt MBE, Peter Shilton OBE, Tony Cottee, Mallory Franklin, Emma Wiggs MBE, Rowland Rivron, Andy Torbet, Julie Peasgood, Debbie Arnold and Dee Anderson.
“Craning the caravan onto a London rooftop has been a great way to celebrate an exceptionally busy and challenging year,” said Nick Howard, Managing Director of Bailey of Bristol. “We love doing events like this to challenge people’s perceptions of caravan holidays. Previously, we’ve towed caravans across Australia, done a winter trip above the Arctic Circle to see Santa in Lapland, and seen 21 countries in 21 days on an epic road trip to Istanbul and back!”, added Nick.
