During the first exhibition day of the completely revamped Camping & Caravan Jaarbeurs, the winners of two prestigious awards were announced: the ANWB election 'Motorhome and Caravan of the Year' and the Camping Sustainability Award. Adria, Bürstner, Dutch motorhome company Ventje and Karsten Tents were among the winners. The Camping & Caravan Jaarbeurs will take place from 5 to 9 October and will be packed with camping innovations.
Every year, the ANWB organises the Camper and Caravan of the Year election. Besides a professional jury with independent professional journalists, a public jury is also involved. In the ANWB election, the title ANWB Camper of the Year went to the Bürstner Lyseo Galery TD 649 G. This is a semi-integrated camper, manufactured in Germany, with an inflatable bedroom on the roof. In the Caravan of the Year election, the ANWB title went to the completely updated Adria Altea, a model series from Slovenia. The Camping Sustainability Award, which was presented for the first time this year, was won by Dutch motorhome manufacturer Ventje. With the best camper product and in the 'camping general' category, Karsten Tents stroked the honour, with family tents made from material incorporating recycled jeans.
ANWB election Camper and Caravan of the year 2023
A striking feature of the 'Camper of the Year' is the inflatable bedroom on the roof of the Bürstner Lyseo Gallery, which is ready to use within 90 seconds. A built-in compressor on board the winning semi-integrated motorhome ensures that. As a result, seating and sleeping areas are completely separated and the full-width rear of the motorhome is equipped as a bathroom with shower. With this, Bürstner builds a double motorhome with an enormous amount of space. In the ANWB Caravan of the Year 2023 election, the complete Adria Altea caravan range triumphed. Notable features include the lightweight AL-KO Varia X chassis, the polyester outer walls and the weight-saving, innovative construction of furniture and cabinets. Large windows and roof hatches provide a remarkable amount of natural light, and the judges also mention the felt-like, sound-absorbing finish of the side walls on the inside, plus the luxurious and ergonomic toilet area.
Camping Sustainability Award presented for the first time
The Camping Sustainability Award was presented on the first exhibition day for the first time in the history of the Camping & Caravan Jaarbeurs. There are two categories: the most sustainable innovative motorhome product and the most sustainable innovative camping product. For both categories, the professional jury made a shortlist after which the public could also cast a vote. Winner of the most sustainable camper product is Ventje, a Dutch start-up of young enthusiastic camper owners that provides their camper vans with a completely sustainable and circular interior: the company uses FSC-certified wood for the furniture and sheep's wool for the insulation. For the floor, it produces CO2 neutrally. "If Ventje also starts building the interiors in electrically powered campervans, it will be a completely sustainable development," the jury report said.
The Most Sustainable Camping product also came from a Dutch company: Karsten Tents from Zwaag in the province of Noord-Holland. The award went to the Blueline tents available as two- and four-person tents. Karsten produces tents in its own energy-neutral workshop in the Netherlands. The jury praised the enormous environmental impact: using the sustainable tent cloth, for example, saves 50,000 litres of water, per tent. In addition, there are no CO2 emissions during production in the Karsten atelier and waste from cutting the groundsheet is reused. Even the zips are made of recycled plastic. Manufacturing in the Netherlands and Belgium also saves a lot of CO2 emissions in terms of transport. "It is incredible that 640 million pairs of jeans are thrown away every year in Europe," states the jury. "Karsten shows the potential of circular entrepreneurship where jeans in the combination with high-quality cotton are given a second (outdoor) life." Both winners can be seen at the Sustainability Square, where the other nominees will also be on display. The ANWB Camper and Caravan of the Year will also be on display inside and out during the fair.
Marloes van den Berg, Chief Sustainability Officer of Jaarbeurs congratulates the winners: "We are delighted to have awarded the Camping Sustainability Award for the first time. This initiative contributes perfectly to the sustainable movement we are currently making at Jaarbeurs. Not only do we want to organise our exhibitions and events operationally as sustainable as possible, we also believe it is important to help our partners drive and accelerate sustainability. The Camping Sustainability Award is a great example of this."
