Luxury hotel room on wheels: Holiday craze sweeping Australia

Aussies are splashing the cash on luxury caravans and motorhomes, paying up to $300,000 to travel in style in the latest in modern RVs. See inside.

Looking for an apartment on wheels with all the creature comforts found in a modern home?

Well a new multimillion-dollar caravan and camper dealership – the biggest purpose-built facility of its type in the southern hemisphere – has opened at West Beach, promising everything from entry-level campers to near-$300,000 motorhomes for seasoned travellers looking for the latest in luxury.

Jayco’s new $9m dealership at West Beach, opposite the Harbour Town shopping precinct on the corner of Tapleys Hill and West Beach roads, consolidates the brand’s previous sites at Edwardstown and Melrose Park, and follows a boom in sales in the aftermath of Covid, with Australians spending more time travelling closer to home.

The 2ha site, dubbed Australia’s first “mega Jayco dealership”, features showroom, office and workshop spaces, an education centre, warehouse for storing parts, as well as storage options for RV owners.

Jayco Adelaide CEO Matt Slee at the new dealership. Picture: Brett Hartwig

And when it comes to vehicles, the pièce de résistance is Jayco’s top-of-the-range Optimum motorhome, described as a “true home away from home”, with all the luxury features you’d expect to see in a luxury hotel room.

Jayco Adelaide chief executive Matt Slee said more than 60 vehicles were sold, in total, from the new dealership in its first month of trade in January, up 69 per cent from the 36 sales from its previous site a year ago, with luxury motorhomes becoming increasingly popular among buyers.

“What’s really hot at the moment is motorhomes. Maybe with demographics getting a little bit older, people who have caravanned all their life, and now they’re moving into motorhoming as an alternative way of travelling,” he said.

“The times now, with high disposable incomes, it’s all about luxury and ease of use. You get anything you would find in a swanky apartment, but on wheels, so you can go anywhere.”

New products sold at Jayco’s new site range from a $25,000 J-Pod trailer right through to premium motorhomes worth close to $300,000. There are also used vehicles.

Inside Jayco’s Optimum motorhome. Picture: Supplied by Jayco

International border closures during the pandemic fuelled a surge in caravan and camping holidays, with close to 50,000 additional RVs hitting Australian roads in 2022 – a record level and more than double the pre-pandemic volumes.

Mr Slee said that while the boom had eased, sales at the new dealership were on track to hit close to 800 this year, up from around 650 in the year before Covid.

“I’ve made a point to visit every mainstream caravan dealership around the country and I’m pretty comfortable to suggest there’s nothing like this in Australia, and it’s here in Adelaide,” he said.

“It’s (demand) still strong, but it always has worked in conjunction with international travel.

“We had obviously a massive bump coming out of the Covid time but it was unsustainable.”

Mr Slee said the new facility, located on Adelaide Airport-owned land, was modelled on the designs of RV dealerships typically found across the US and Canada.

Inside Jayco’s new dealership. Picture: Brett Hartwig

“With dealer conferences and trips over the years, we actually visited a Canadian dealership, one of the bigger ones over there, and it really resonated with the me – the design, layout and scale,” he said.

“They’re obviously world-leading with the customer experience – and that’s now replicated in an Australian version – the way we interpret is the best way.”

Jayco Adelaide will host an official launch event on Thursday.

Inside Jayco’s Optimum motorhome. Picture: Supplied by Jayco

Originally published as Luxury hotel room on wheels: Holiday craze sweeping Australia