Post by Mustang on Mar 19, 2020 9:52:38 GMT 10
2020 VINTAGE CARAVAN NATIONALS - POSTPONED TO MAY 2021
If you have booked for the 2020 Nationals, please read this post all the way through.
Hi all,
We are very sad to inform you that the organising team for the 2020 Vintage Caravan Nationals consulted together today, and reached the conclusion that the Nationals should be postponed for 12 months to May 2021 because of Covid 19 (the corona virus).
The most immediate factor leading to the postponement was the decision by the Federal and State governments today to ban non-essential indoor gatherings of more than 100 people. But the organising team had already been carefully monitoring the situation regarding Covid 19 since it began to become a threat a number of weeks ago. There are several reasons for the decision to postpone:
The ban on outdoor gatherings over 500 people - with over 200 caravans booked to come to the Nationals, there was a fair chance we would exceed 500 people at some points during the event, particularly on the Open Day.
The ban on indoor gatherings meant that several activities planned for the Nationals could not go ahead, including the Nationals Dinner, the charity auction, and museum visits. It did not seem practical to limit these activities to less than 100 people, and unfair to those other 200-300 people who would end up being excluded.
Some of the other planned activities would involve people being in close contact on buses or in train carriages for periods of up to a few hours, and it seems like a good chance that several activities are also likely to be cancelled by local organisers in the meantime.
The strong likelihood that more stringent restrictions on events and activities could be imposed by May.
And finally - and by no means least in importance - the fact that quite a sizable percentage of Nationals attendees are in one or more of the high risk categories.
The organising team is really disappointed at this turn of events, but we trust that you will accept that we have the best interests at heart of all those who were intending to attend. It was a hard decision to have to make.
So, what happens next?
The silver lining to all this is that we have spoken to the NRMA Victor Harbor Beachfront Holiday Park, and they have agreed to postpone our Nationals booking to around the same time next year. The dates are yet to be confirmed, but we hope to be able to tell you what they are early next week.
If you decide to change your booking to 2021, the Holiday Park has agreed to transfer your deposit/payment to the new booking. However, if you decide to cancel your booking altogether and not rebook for 2021, then the Park's normal cancellation will apply (fees returned, less $30 admin fee). BUT PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT THE HOLIDAY PARK ABOUT REBOOKING OR CANCELLATION UNTIL AFTER WE HAVE CONFIRMED THE DATE FOR THE NATIONALS IN 2021.
What can I do to help?
A number of people who have registered for the Nationals do not belong to the forum, or don't look at it regularly. We will be posting on a number of Vintage and Classic Caravan Facebook pages over the next few days. But if you know someone who has registered, can you please tell them about the postponement? Thanks - we need to get the information out there.
What about the payments I have made for activities this May?
You will receive a full refund for any payment you have made for the Nationals Dinner, the PS Oscar W cruise, or the Cockle Train trip. You will be contacted either by Don Ricardo or Wal Robinson regarding the method to provide your refund. But please give us a little time to do that, because there are a large number of people we need to contact to arrange a refund for. We won't forget any of you in the process.
So why postpone the 2020 Nationals now? Why not wait for a while and see what happens?
We debated waiting for another couple of weeks to make a decision, but once the bans on large open air and indoor events were put in place, it seemed only fair to everyone to make a decision. From all that we hear from official sources, the virus situation is very possibly likely to get worse, with more stringent restrictions, before it gets better.
We know that people coming from distant places such as WA and Queensland would be setting out for Victor Harbor several weeks at least before the Nationals. In fact we know of one couple who started out from WA several weeks ago (incorporating a tour as part of their trip). We also know that a number of people have been weighing up whether to cancel or not, and we have had quite a few messages from people who have decided not to come. We therefore felt that some certainty was required.
And finally...
As we said the decision to postpone was not an easy one to make, and not one that provided any joy for the organising team. We know that not everyone will agree with the decision, and some people may even be angry. However, we would ask that, even if you disagree, you respect the decision that has been made and that it has been made with the intention of being in the best interests of everyone involved. Please also resist the urge to vent at other members on the forum who may have a different perspective from you. We all need to be kind and supportive to each other in these circumstances.
At this point we'd like to especially thank all those who have contributed along the way to planning what was going to be a great Nationals event with the largest number of Vintage and Classic caravans yet.
SO THE 2020 VINTAGE CARAVAN NATIONALS WILL BECOME THE 2021 VINTAGE CARAVAN NATIONALS!
BRING ON 2O21 AND THE END OF COVID 19!
Any questions? Feel free to ask and we'll answer them if we can.
The organsing team: Don Ricardo, Moparman and Wal R
If you have booked for the 2020 Nationals, please read this post all the way through.
Hi all,
We are very sad to inform you that the organising team for the 2020 Vintage Caravan Nationals consulted together today, and reached the conclusion that the Nationals should be postponed for 12 months to May 2021 because of Covid 19 (the corona virus).
The most immediate factor leading to the postponement was the decision by the Federal and State governments today to ban non-essential indoor gatherings of more than 100 people. But the organising team had already been carefully monitoring the situation regarding Covid 19 since it began to become a threat a number of weeks ago. There are several reasons for the decision to postpone:
The ban on outdoor gatherings over 500 people - with over 200 caravans booked to come to the Nationals, there was a fair chance we would exceed 500 people at some points during the event, particularly on the Open Day.
The ban on indoor gatherings meant that several activities planned for the Nationals could not go ahead, including the Nationals Dinner, the charity auction, and museum visits. It did not seem practical to limit these activities to less than 100 people, and unfair to those other 200-300 people who would end up being excluded.
Some of the other planned activities would involve people being in close contact on buses or in train carriages for periods of up to a few hours, and it seems like a good chance that several activities are also likely to be cancelled by local organisers in the meantime.
The strong likelihood that more stringent restrictions on events and activities could be imposed by May.
And finally - and by no means least in importance - the fact that quite a sizable percentage of Nationals attendees are in one or more of the high risk categories.
The organising team is really disappointed at this turn of events, but we trust that you will accept that we have the best interests at heart of all those who were intending to attend. It was a hard decision to have to make.
So, what happens next?
The silver lining to all this is that we have spoken to the NRMA Victor Harbor Beachfront Holiday Park, and they have agreed to postpone our Nationals booking to around the same time next year. The dates are yet to be confirmed, but we hope to be able to tell you what they are early next week.
If you decide to change your booking to 2021, the Holiday Park has agreed to transfer your deposit/payment to the new booking. However, if you decide to cancel your booking altogether and not rebook for 2021, then the Park's normal cancellation will apply (fees returned, less $30 admin fee). BUT PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT THE HOLIDAY PARK ABOUT REBOOKING OR CANCELLATION UNTIL AFTER WE HAVE CONFIRMED THE DATE FOR THE NATIONALS IN 2021.
What can I do to help?
A number of people who have registered for the Nationals do not belong to the forum, or don't look at it regularly. We will be posting on a number of Vintage and Classic Caravan Facebook pages over the next few days. But if you know someone who has registered, can you please tell them about the postponement? Thanks - we need to get the information out there.
What about the payments I have made for activities this May?
You will receive a full refund for any payment you have made for the Nationals Dinner, the PS Oscar W cruise, or the Cockle Train trip. You will be contacted either by Don Ricardo or Wal Robinson regarding the method to provide your refund. But please give us a little time to do that, because there are a large number of people we need to contact to arrange a refund for. We won't forget any of you in the process.
So why postpone the 2020 Nationals now? Why not wait for a while and see what happens?
We debated waiting for another couple of weeks to make a decision, but once the bans on large open air and indoor events were put in place, it seemed only fair to everyone to make a decision. From all that we hear from official sources, the virus situation is very possibly likely to get worse, with more stringent restrictions, before it gets better.
We know that people coming from distant places such as WA and Queensland would be setting out for Victor Harbor several weeks at least before the Nationals. In fact we know of one couple who started out from WA several weeks ago (incorporating a tour as part of their trip). We also know that a number of people have been weighing up whether to cancel or not, and we have had quite a few messages from people who have decided not to come. We therefore felt that some certainty was required.
And finally...
As we said the decision to postpone was not an easy one to make, and not one that provided any joy for the organising team. We know that not everyone will agree with the decision, and some people may even be angry. However, we would ask that, even if you disagree, you respect the decision that has been made and that it has been made with the intention of being in the best interests of everyone involved. Please also resist the urge to vent at other members on the forum who may have a different perspective from you. We all need to be kind and supportive to each other in these circumstances.
At this point we'd like to especially thank all those who have contributed along the way to planning what was going to be a great Nationals event with the largest number of Vintage and Classic caravans yet.
SO THE 2020 VINTAGE CARAVAN NATIONALS WILL BECOME THE 2021 VINTAGE CARAVAN NATIONALS!
BRING ON 2O21 AND THE END OF COVID 19!
Any questions? Feel free to ask and we'll answer them if we can.
The organsing team: Don Ricardo, Moparman and Wal R