German designers have gone back to the drawing board to try to entice more people to take caravan and camping holidays.

The sector has actually suffered a downturn in Europe, so manufacturer Knaus Tabbert decided to do something about it,  designing a futuristic caravan from scratch to try to generate some excitement.

The “Caravisio” made its public debut at this year’s Dusseldorf Caravan Show after two years of development involving more than 20 other European manufacturers. This included extensive wind tunnel tests to prove its aerodynamic efficiency.

Tabbert says his aim was to bring the comforts found in big motorhomes into a much smaller package, towable by a European car.

Caravisio has a fold-out rear deck, a TV that projects on to the ceiling and the outside wall, as well as two electric bicycles that are recharged while the van is moving.  All the systems are controlled by a smartphone app.

Tabbert says there are absolutely no plans to put the Caraviso into production, but certainly many of its ideas are likely to be taken up by forward-looking designers and manufacturers world-wide   .