With the above restrictions, the business of selling and renting trailers has been grounded to only inner tourism zones in the western regions near Yunnan Province and Tibet, which is 'not normal', given the high costs of buying or renting one. Places like Shanghai and Guangzhou, where residents enjoy much higher consumption level, should have been the target markets. However, very few Recreational Vehicle dealers can be found in such cities.
A businessman even complained about being thoroughly checked and repeatedly questioned by the local Transportation Bureau when he transported the travel trailers to attend the Guangzhou Tourism Expo because they "were not sure about such strange vehicles."
Adding to the unreasonable market distribution for the RV business is the lack of campsites that has raised safety concerns among RV users. So far, China has only 30 vehicle campsites and 7 marked on the map, which are dwarfed by the 16,500 of them in the U.S. Mr. Su, an RV fan in Guangzhou told the newspaper that he has hesitated over the decision to buy one. "I have no idea where we can camp with such a giant vehicle. It's not safe just to stop anywhere on our way."
Being not able to locate some satisfactory campsites on the digital map, Su finally gave up the plan to purchase one, claiming that "it's not safe for the kids when camping in the vehicle randomly outside the city."
Professor Zhang Weiqiang from Guangdong Business College is also pessimistic about the RV touring industry development in China. "We don't have updated infrastructure to accommodate such vehicles in most cities, even in a first-tier city like Guangzhou," he said. "And most Chinese have long enjoyed their more stable and old-fashioned lifestyles, rather than dragging around a large vehicle."
