New Employee First Impressions of the Caravan and Camping Industry

Caravan and Camping Industry new employee first impressions: Two perspectives.

We often hear about successful leaders in our industry who have lived and breathed caravan and camping since they were children, growing up with parents who work in caravan parks or manufacturing, inheriting the passion for the industry from their hard-working family.  The never-ending discussion about attracting new employees and strong leadership talent to our industry seems to frequently re-occur.  We asked two future leaders who joined the industry recently to share their experience, how it met their expectations and what they see in store for the future.

Kayla Morgan, Operations Coordinator for the Edwards Group

In my first 6 weeks in the Caravanning and Camping Industry I have found it to be exciting, challenging and full of friendly and very welcoming people.

Before taking on my current role as Operations Coordinator with the Edwards Group, I had no professional experience within the Caravan and Camping Industry.  My previous experience included working as an Administrative Coordinator/ Assistant to the Patent and Trade Mark Consultant in the building industry as well as various customer service and business support roles.

I have a love for travel, the outdoors and spending time exploring the countries I visit.  When this exciting, challenging and engaging role within the Edwards Group came along, I felt it was an opportunity that I could not pass up.

I was very fortunate that within my first few weeks with the Edwards Group I was able to attend the SA Parks conference at the Hahndorf Resort Tourist Park.  This was a fantastic opportunity to be introduced to this friendly and family orientated industry. Everyone was not only willing, but excited to share their knowledge with others and to help them succeed.

Everyone that I have been fortunate to meet within the industry has been friendly and very welcoming.  I have found that operators have been really focused on creating the best customer experience and promoting tourism within their towns and regions.  I have met many people who are extremely passionate about their parks and region and work hard to ensure that their guests experience the best of this.

It has been great to come into an exciting industry with huge focus on customer experience, tourism and the great outdoors with caravan and holiday parks and that focuses on providing affordable housing with their lifestyle and residential parks.  I have felt very welcomed by everyone at the Edwards Group and am very excited to be part of their young and dynamic team.  I have learnt so much about this industry already and can’t wait to get more involved.

Alfredo Jose, Compliance Auditor for Caravan Industry Association of Australia

To be part of the caravan industry happened to me by pure chance.  I worked previously in the military vehicle industry in the field of Compliance and Quality Assurance, supplying parts to the defence arm of Singapore.  When I was offered to join Caravan Industry Association of Australia’s RVMAP Technical Team as Compliance Auditor, I took this opportunity to broaden my experience, to learn about this industry and to start something new for me.  With almost zero knowledge about caravans, I was a bit apprehensive at first but the RVMAP Technical Team made it easy for me to fit in the role and to get into the technical requirements of vehicle regulations and standards.  In just a matter of a week, my knowledge was put to test in my first ever compliance review in the Gold Coast Caravan Show.  I really felt the support from the team and not once did I feel left behind.

As weeks turned into months, my understanding of the industry deepened.  I met people from different sectors of the industry, people who are very passionate in caravanning.  Some were pioneers and some were just starting to set foot, aiming to make a contribution to the industry.  It started to unfold in front of me that caravanning was not just an industry of houses on wheels.  It was an industry of Australian lifestyle, a lifestyle that spanned decades and enjoyed by people in varied age groups.

I am not surprised to know that caravanning is a growing industry, seeing a rapid growth in the past years.  I believe that it will continue to do so in the future.  But like any other industries, caravanning industry will definitely have road blocks along the way.  To survive, it must find means and ways to become sustainable, to promote caravanning to the younger generation, and to make the vehicles current, advanced and progressive.   This industry will also benefit if the vehicles are manufactured efficiently and effectively.  Manufacturing processes are streamlined and quality management systems are implemented and maintained.

My hopes are high that caravanning industry will stay for decades to come.  I am very excited to be part of this industry and looking forward to the day that I will have my own caravan.