With your caravanning season now in full swing, it’s important to stay abreast of any key developments that might affect your upcoming outings and holidays.
Let’s lift the lid on some of the most recent headlines.
Major caravanning organisations promote safer towing
A consortium of major caravanning organisations – including the Camping and Caravanning Club, the Caravan and Motorhome Club, and the National Caravan Council (NCC) – has launched a campaign for safer towing.
The Alliance’s first major initiative is the launch of the TLC campaign – Tyres, Load, Connectivity – a comprehensive resource hub aimed at helping drivers keep their trailers, caravans, horseboxes, and other towed vehicles safe and roadworthy:
- Tyres – keep all the tyres on your trailer and the vehicle towing it properly inflated and ensure all have the required tread and are free from any damage, plus address tyre ageing;
- Load – loads must be evenly distributed in the trailer, made secure, and comply with legal restrictions; and
- Connections – ensure that the lights, breakaway cables, and all electrical connections are securely fixed and are working properly.
Trigano caravan sales
The French caravan manufacturer Trigano has admitted that the prospects for sales in the coming year do not look that good, according to a story by Practical Caravan recently.
Although the company foresees little chance of a significant uplift in sales this year, it was keen to scotch rumours that had previously circulated dismissing its chances of financial recovery.
Mobile signal boost transforms UK countryside
When you take to the road in your touring caravan this season, you can expect much better mobile telephone coverage even in the most rural spots.
A recent story in Out and About Live described advances made by the Shared Rural Network (SRN) that bring improved mobile connectivity thanks to cooperation between mobile providers and the government.
The SRN has upgraded more than 50 existing telecommunications masts in England, Wales, and Scotland. The dramatically improved 4G network will support all four of the major UK mobile providers across remote areas that have until now been starved of viable signals. This will bring effective coverage to some of the country’s most picturesque countryside.
The area benefitting from this upgrade is the equivalent of nearly 66,500 football pitches, says Out and About Live. It covers such well-visited tourist destinations as the national parks in the North York Moors, the Lake District, and Snowdonia. Trails across such scenic countryside as the Southern Upland Way and areas of outstanding natural beauty like the Dee Valley and the Clwydian Range will also benefit.
The NCC backs the Back British Holidays campaign
In a recent press release, the National Caravan Council (NCC) announced that it is thrown its support behind Out & About Live’s campaign to revive the country’s domestic tourism and leisure vehicle industry.
It hopes to encourage its more than 700 members to participate in the initiative across various websites, social media, and other channels of communication – so engaging the necessary support from Government.
There are seven principal aims in the current campaign:
- Promote domestic tourism;
- Boost financial support for tourism-oriented businesses;
- Manage operational costs and inflation;
- Empower local authorities in the development of tourism;
- Improve the reliability of travel to tourist destinations in the UK;
- Develop specially designated “tourism zones”; and
- Press forward on net-zero and green tourism practices.
The aims are designed to protect the future of the tourism and leisure vehicle industries in the UK which are estimated to contribute to the economy more than £31 billion a year and directly or indirectly employ more than 3.3 million individuals.
You can find out more here.