In the mobility industry, two exhibitions are imminent, which were once major global events.

The Caravan Salon will take place in Düsseldorf this weekend, the leading rendezvous in an industry that has seen nothing but an upswing in recent years.

The week after that, the International Motor Show IAA for passenger cars from Frankfurt to the Isar begins in Munich.

One thing the two trade fairs have in common is the corona pandemic, which here and there requires special access requirements and frightens visitors.

Otherwise the prerequisites could hardly be more different.

While the motorhome market is being driven by an upswing that has been accompanied by sympathy, the car and its exhibition are subject to constant criticism.

Holger Appel

Editor in business, responsible for "Technology and Engine".

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The organizing association of the automotive industry VDA is trying to please everyone in Munich under the impression of protests at the last IAA held in Frankfurt two years ago. Cars, bicycles, scooters, debates, concerts, yoga courses, dog walking drones - all of this should be brought under one roof. For this purpose, the exhibition will be divided, it will take place in the exhibition halls outside the city and in different places in the center. This is supposed to bring the IAA closer to the people, but it leads to a lack of contour, which is cause for concern from the point of view of Germany as a business location. The trade fair was "not as big as it was planned before the pandemic," said trade fair boss Klaus Dittrich recently. It is no longer to be expected that the IAA will generate half a billion in sales as hoped.Ticket sales have so far been "cautious".

Düsseldorf, on the other hand, has again opted for a classic layout, 13 halls and the open spaces in front of them will be occupied.

The annual Caravan Salon cooks on a smaller flame than the IAA, which takes place every two years, but it burns constantly.

2019 marked a record with 270,000 visitors.

Last year, 107,000 came to the Corona-ravaged exhibition. Confidence has not broken, the salon runs from August 28 to September 5 in good spirits.

648 exhibitors are registered, that has the dimension of the time before Corona.

The number of visitors is limited to 20,000 per day.

The bookings and reservations are "very gratifying", says a spokesman for Messe Düsseldorf, "we expect that we can achieve a significant increase in visitor numbers compared to the previous year."

The money for it is apparently loose

The market data gives some cause for optimism. “20 million Germans want to go to the campsite. Motorhomes and caravans are in greater demand than ever ”, is how gsr management consultancy headed a study that it praised as the largest published survey of its kind on the subject of motorhomes. According to her, around 1.5 million caravans and motorhomes will be registered in Germany by the end of the year. The number of people planning a trip or vacation with a motorhome has risen by 44 percent this year alone. Corona, fun, adventure and the renouncement of air travel because of climate concerns are the drivers, it is said. The money for it is apparently loose. According to the survey, an average of 54,500 euros was invested in a new motorhome, 13 percent more than in the previous year.An average of 25,000 euros was paid for new caravans. Almost 70 percent of the owners prefer Germany as a travel destination. Bavaria, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Schleswig-Holstein are particularly popular, in that order.

The consequences are obvious, however. The 3,061 campsites with around 230,000 parking spaces are well filled, sometimes overbooked, and holiday resorts are crammed full. And outside of the season, there is an increasing number of mobile homes that are parked on the roadside and take up significantly more space there than the sometimes hostile SUVs.