Offline Campers triples size at former Holden site amid camping boom
From a backyard shed to a hi-tech manufacturing facility with a rich Aussie history – meet the couple building $150,000 luxury campers where Holdens once rolled off the line.
The post-pandemic camping and caravanning boom is proving a boon for a luxury camper manufacturer that’s breathing new life into a growing slice of the former Holden site at Elizabeth.
Engineer Sam Reynolds and his wife Jenna set up Offline Campers after struggling to find a product that met the needs of their young family.
What started as a passion project to build a camper for their own family in the backyard shed soon transformed into a fully-fledged business, and after two years of research and development they released their first product in 2018.
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Now, on the back of a surge in demand from high-end off-roaders, they are overseeing a major expansion, including a tripling of the company’s floor-space at the Lionsgate Business Park – the site of the former Holden factory that closed in 2017.
The expansion will enable more camper trailers to be built on Offline Campers’ own specialised production line.
Mr Reynolds said Offline Campers was one of the few camper trailer manufacturers in Australia to design and manufacture locally, and that was resonating with buyers across the country.
“We use the maximum amount of local components possible to build the Swiss army knife of the camper trailer community,” he said.
“The company’s reputation is continuing to grow nationally, with the majority of sales now coming from the eastern states.
“We’ve grown by close to 50 per cent over the past financial year and we’re projecting growth over the coming year of a further 50 per cent.”
Each camper trailer model – from its chassis to its cabinetry - is manufactured at the Lionsgate Business Park, where the vehicles are customised for each client as part of a luxury offering – think air-conditioning, Starlink Wi-Fi and automated composting toilets.
Some have included coffee machines, others have had microwaves, TVs, ensuites and stainless steel kitchen benches.
The entry-level Raker model starts from $79,990, while hybrid Domino and Solitaire camper-caravan models start from $96,800 and $132,500.
Mr Reynolds said Covid-19 proved to be a blessing in disguise for the company, with early challenges followed by a boom in domestic travel that has sparked huge interest in higher end camping and caravanning.
Figures from Tourism Research Australia show that Australians took 15.2 million caravan and camping trips in 2024, spending $14bn on their trips, well above pre-Covid levels.
Caravan and campervan registrations have steadily grown over the last decade to close to a million registered vehicles.
“When Covid hit we questioned whether we would be able to keep going, but Australians quickly turned to travelling domestically and the timing could not have been better to launch a camper trailer business,” Mr Reynolds said.
“Word began to spread and orders began to roll in.”
