By Russ and Tiña De Maris
The boys back in Indiana are practically dancing a jig: The RVIA (RV Industry Association) projects manufacturers could roll as many as 515,000 rigs to dealers in 2021. If the dealers sell them, where will your RV stay? We don’t mean, where will you park your rig when it’s not on the road – we mean, where will you stay when you’re on the road?
Conveniences become necessities
In these days of “conveniences” looking more like necessities, having a place to plug the shore-power cord in on a regular basis is becoming a big thing for many RVers. An RVtravel.com poll asked readers how long they could go without having to have shore power service. Only 28% of all respondents said they could do without an electrical hookup indefinitely. That left 72% who said they’d need a hookup sooner or later, many every night, a few saying in a week or two.
Where will your RV stay when you’re out and about? The RVIA says approximately 9 million U.S. households own an RV. Not all of those are on the road, but the average American uses their RV at least two weeks a year. Nine million RVs. Now add on the estimated half-million or more (potentially 515,400) new RVs that could hit the road next year. Comparing the huge 2020 movement of new RVs (423,628) to the projection is more than a 21% “bump” in the potential number of RVers looking for a place to overnight.
We asked readers if they found it more difficult now to get an RV park space without a reservation than it was five years ago. Answer? More than 91% of you said, “YES!” So if it was more difficult then, what about next year, with 20% more rigs competing for spaces? Surely, with such demand for RV park sites, one would expect that developers are jumping at the chance to fill the need. Right?
Will RV parks fill the need?
David Basler, a spokesman for the ARVC, “the” association of RV parks and campgrounds in the U.S., shared a few insights. First off, the question of where will your RV stay in light of the surge of new RVs is a question that concerns his organization. He pointed out that while public lands agencies are struggling to provide new spots, members of his organization – private industry – are indeed expanding. “The private industry is growing,” Basler told us, “not at a comparable rate [to that of new RVs built], but at a rate that we’ll keep up.”
ARVC provided some numbers showing how it figures RV park owners will keep up with the demand. Looking at the numbers gave some initial assurance: In 2019, ARVC members had 1,190,000 RV sites with hookups available. By this year, that number pushed up to 1,225,000 sites – nearly a 3% increase. But what about 2021? Not all the numbers are yet available, but Basler says ARVC anticipates an increase of some 52,300 sites, taking the total to a potential of 1,277,300 hookups.
Let’s see here. 52,300 new hookups – that’s a 0.187 percent increase in sites, compared to a 20% increase in RV production. We’re not sure how ARVC figures those two numbers are congruent with the thought that private RV parks “will keep up” with the potential demand. Basler tells us that RVers will just have to do better about “planning ahead” when it comes to routing and reservations.
Changes hard to choke down
For those of us who “cut our teeth” in the RV lifestyle, these changes aren’t going down easy. The days of figuring out where will your RV stay overnight an hour before “quitting time” are pleasant memories. “Spur of the moment” joins the ranks of mercury-free tuna fish and pay telephones on every corner. These writers predict that if the RV manufacturing industry doesn’t do a much better job of working with groups like the ARVC, they may well find a sudden drop in demand, if RVers find themselves getting frustrated with no place to go.
Here’s a wild thought: Let the RV manufacturing/retailing industry set aside a percentage of their sales and use it to incentivize development of more RV park sites.
[Ed note: Paragraphs regarding number of new sites has been corrected. Apologies to ARVC, they provided the correct information, but numbers were bungled by us. –rd 12/7/20, 11:56mst]
Related
A firsthand look at what it’s like to travel by RV with no reservations
Campground crowding. How long do you spend looking for reservations?
##RVT977b
Russ – thanks for a great article concerning the problems facing all of us relative to available places to camp. However, I do have to take issue with the percentages you have developed. Your statement “227,300 new hookups – that’s a 0.187 percent increase in sites, compared to a 20% increase in RV production” really isn’t using proper statistics. What you should really compare is the 227,300 new hook ups against the 515,000 new RVs being produced. That means there is a 44% chance of reserving one of these new sites.
you are absolutely correct in stating that there is already a major problem with the number of camping spaces available for the number of RVs already in existence. However, since your article says that people generally only use their RVs two weeks out of the year that means all numbers should be divided by 26 in order to come up with a proper percentage for yearly usage. Yes, this problem is only going to get worse but let’s not put an unrealistic spin on the numbers.
This is an Article that continues to get beaten to death. Because they state 515,000 new RV’s, DOES NOT mean that many are gonna be sucking up RV spaces around the country. These are projected numbers from the Manufacturers and NOT Units being sold by dealerships. Every place I go, I see dealers lots still full of new and used RV’s.
You miss the point with all these projected new RV’s hitting the road. Unfortunately, much of this is due to “THE VIRUS” and hopefully with some “LUCK” (not science) it will subside in 2021!
At that point, you will see the numbers begin to decline, when all the NEWBIES decide to get rid of those RV’s and Flood the market with USED ones.
It is not as gloomy as Russ makes it out to be!
There are plenty of RV Parks out there! And yes I know, some good and some really crappy ones! However, if you want to stay by all the main attractions, then you will find it hard to get an RV Space!
Happy Camping and Be Safe!
I agree. All we hear about are the numbers of those new rigs “flying” out of the manufacturers doors and shipped to dealers. Even before the pandemic, there was a huge percentage of those new rigs that just end up sitting in driveways, back yards and storage facilities. I have my rig stored at a local storage place and even now, it’s filled with all types of RV’s, mostly newer, that have never moved in the last two years. RV’s owned by folks, who even during the “normal times”, bought them and never or rarely ever use them. If I were to start a business regarding anything to do with RV’s, it would be a storage business as one could make a fortune with a piece of ground just for folks to park their “keeping up with the Jones’ lifestyle”.
1
Isn’t it amazing how ANY topic devolves into political??? “***demic” my a** , it’s a pandemic! Stick to the topic and leave the political opinions out.
I could not agree more – and calling it the xxxxx Flu instead of Covid-19 is equally self entitled deconstructive rhetoric. (I bleeped it just to get it out of the comments, even though you were just referring to someone else’s reference, which I’ve also bleeped. This all is getting bleepin’ ridiculous. 😆 Sorry, couldn’t help myself. Take care, Dane. 🙂 –Diane at RVtravel.com)
Political comments all need to be “bleeped” as they go up, I don’t subscribe to any forum or entity that has them, that’s not what this is for. I don’t subscribe to Twitter, Facebook or any other “Social Media” due to this and I’d hate to have to drop this too if it gets political also. Thanks for taking the original post down.
Bill-
Following up on your perfect comment-
How much would you (or anyone in the audience) pay to have your RV in a totally enclosed facility with someone to start the engine, check the tires, have any maintenance performed, have 50amp service, and have it road ready when you wanted to leave on your next adventure? The complex will also have every square inch video recorded for security.
Reason- I have a large warehouse near me that I was thinking about converting into an indoor RV storage unit facility.
I would imagine the cost would be based on the services required. Myself, I check on my own rig weekly and carry out any maintenance and other tasks. It’s parked outside with 20 amp access to keep my batteries charged for 70 bucks/month.
“Every place I go, I see dealers lots still full of new and used RV’s.”
Where? The dealers near me (and those 200 miles away) are using their lots for storage. There are no decent used units available at a decent price.
“all the NEWBIES decide to get rid of those RV’s and Flood the market with USED ones.”
Absolutely the truest words I have seen this morning!
This is what I get for sleeping through Sunday–sharp readers like you would have spared a bit of embarrassment. The thinking was good on my part, trouble is, it somehow didn’t carry through to the final product. Corrections made!
Is there a mistake with the numbers or should the text read as “an increase to 1,227,300 “.
Richard.
18,7% increase, not 0.187……writers not mathematicians I suppose. So 18.7 vs 20 actually.
UMM Pat, .187 = 18.7%. Just sayin.
Happy and Safe Holidays to All!
Wear a mask and wash your hands and help fight this virus by reducing the exposure!
I still contend that most new (and even new-to-the-buyer) RV’s will end up in storage lots (which are in even SHORTER supply than RV parks), shortly after purchase. People will take off on their first trips, find that it’s not all ‘they’ cracked it up to be, and park the units. Many folks do not have a side yard to park them in either. Off they go looking for a place to park and pay. In my town, you USED to be able to park your stuff (RV’s, boats, trailered off-road vehicles etc.) for $30 month. NO MORE. Lot owners know that they have something in demand and now charge what the market will bear. One very large lot in Reno is packed to bulging. Trailers and motorhomes parked inches apart, ripe for damage when (or if) folks come to take their RV out for a trip.
Since it’s such a hassle to take the RV out of the lot, bring it home to load it, and go off on a weekend trip, few do that. Even for a week long vacation it’s STILL a hassle. The glow quickly dims, xxxxx Flu or not.
Yes!
These are my exact thoughts as well. Here are the four people who will profit from this cyclic spike in the industry:
RV Salesmen for selling the units
Storage lot owners for these fools who rushed out to purchase a unit without giving consideration to the question “OK, now where do I park this 45 foot, 26,000 ton vehicle?”
RV repair centers to fix all of the shoddy work because these units were just pushed out the door and put in the hands of absolute novices.
RV repo companies who will come and repossess the vehicles sometime in February when these new novices discover that they cannot afford their brilliant idea of owning an RV and holiday bills start coming due.
I agree, here in the midwest many HOA and municipalities have ordinances against parking an RV on your premises. The local storage lots know this so they jack up the rates.
I do enjoy perspectives on various topics from Russ and Tina, but it’d likely be best they stay away from attempting mathematical conclusions without a math inclined mind to verify or correct them. (Other comments have cared for that, so no need for me to.). Unless, of course, part of the goal was humor, as it did succeed giving us a chuckle.
The sooner we take the Virus seriously and follow the CDC’s recommendations of mask wearing, the sooner we get back to normal, which will slow the new RV sales and help this issue.
This seems to be the only RV magazine that laments that more people are interested and buying more RV’s….strange
Hi, Leo. Maybe it’s because we’re in this business “for” the RVers (i.e., to advise, educate and even entertain them about every aspect of RVing), not to make money off of them with RV sales, repairs, storage, etc. Make sense? Happy RVing! 🙂 —Diane at RVtravel.com
would be more helpful if we had break down by class since many fifth and trailers are parked in ones yard for most of the year compared to class a coaches.
You paint that with a pretty broad brush. We downsized from a Class A to a TT a couple years ago and our TT is on the road anywhere from three to six months a year.
Tom
If the amount of available RV site are truly decreasing due to the virus, or people just seeing the value of RV-ing from place to place safely. Then someone needs to notify the AH&LA – American Hotel & Lodging Association, & ARDA – American Resort Development Association. The need toput this information in their membership newsletters. Making new recommending that they do some creative trenching in their parking lots to provide RV parking sites with water, electric, & a sewer drop station to accommodate RVer’s.
If the hospitality industry is suffering due to a number of issue this could be a game changer for them. Join the overnight RVer’s providing sites to stay while on the road.
If they would throw in the continental breakfast wow!
@Tom K Spot on with the hotel/motel owners expanding to provide for RVs. I found one such motel (Days Inn IIRC) in Fargo ND on my way home from the PNW. When I made a reservation I was a bit confused as they did not make it clear (at least to my thick head) that the RV park was part of the motel. Of course I figured it out when I arrived at the address and I went into the front desk of the motel and instead of handing me a room key they gave me my site number with full hookups for the night and off I went.
They are certainly thinking ahead; they just have to promote it better.
Great idea!
Prediction: 2021 will be another big year for the RV industry with people out traveling through summer. Once the virus is contained and a majority of people feel comfortable traveling via air/hotel again (late 21) this will create a huge travel boom with the amount of savings Americans have built up this year (extremely high). I feel for those in the travel/service industry now but those still employed have proven to have built up a large savings bucket, per several researchers. This will bring back other forms of travel and usage rates of RVs will drop.
Usage rates are the key reason why spots are limited. Not total units (actually down YoY due to plant shutdowns).
The silver lining to this cloud may be there is a wave building of used RVs a few years down the road. Looking to see prices plummet as people tire of RV payments for a toy they are not using. Hopefully. So, I may sell mine now at a premium and buy again when my scenario comes to pass. Market timing, kills me every time.
If your current RV is built well or you have fixed all the problems, I’d hang on to it. I wouldn’t want to roll the dice on one of these “buyers remorse “ rarely used units that are full of factory issues that these novice owners don’t know how to fix. Unless you enjoy working on RVs, then it would be fine.
The headline in 2022? RV Parks go bust! Once the COVID vaccines were administered and it became safe to travel, vacationers abandoned their RVs and went back to their previous travel means: airlines, cruises, hotels, and resorts. With RV park demand crashing, numerous new start RV Parks, some of which just got started, found themselves in financial ruin.
No financial ruin I live in my rv and have many friends who live in there’s and we all have the same problem no place park the majority of my friends pay hundreds if not thousands on parking tickets there needs to be a lot more rv spaces I can’t find one anyplace that I can stay in for more then a week
Come on up to Texas! I’m in a park that PREFERS long-timers.
I believe there may not be as much of a shortage as all the experts think, but possibly the shortage is actually in the high demand areas. It seems that areas that are high tourist areas are full up, 50-100 miles down the road there’s plenty of spaces. 2 years ago we were in SE Texas, the resort we were in was full, 8 miles down the road was 2 parks but they didn’t have all the amenities our park had and they were less than half full all winter. It’s a matter of what your needs are.
Using the formula Percentage Difference =|V1 – V2|(V1 + V2)/2× 100, the increase in new hookups is 18.55%. I think you missed the last step of multiplying by 100.
The other issue I have is with your lack of continuity:
Only 28% of all respondents said they could do without an electrical hookup indefinitely. That left 72% who said they’d need a hookup sooner or later, many every night, a few saying in a week or two.
You have 28% & 72%, then “many” and “a few”??
When you are going to be demonstrating your point using math and statistics, everything has a value (0.5%….2%….2.7%) and must be shown in your calculations on how you arrived at your conclusions.
I’ll second that. Editors, check your math! 18.5% is a pretty healthy jump in one year, and good news, if it actually happens, and if half of them are affordable.
I was thinking exactly like you, Michael, as I read this article! Once you multiply by 100, the 18.55% new hookups would almost keep up percentage wise with new RV sales. I was just surprised by the claim that there could actually be 227,300 new hookups next year.
I also thought that the numbers related to needing an electrical hookup were incomplete. I’m one who would say that I need a hookup sooner or later, but actually all I need to do is recharge my extra batteries every 2-3 days, which I can do with a few hours of generator power. (Or solar panel power for those who have them.) I’m not really too worried about finding places to stay and/or camp in the coming years.
Got news for some, here where I live, 4 new RV Storage places have been erected this year, and the one I am in has expanded 3 times this year as well. He is building a new enclosed facility with power but is charging 350 month, too steep for my blood. It not just camping spots, it’s where are you going to keep it too,, and those months not in use, the insurance still needs to be paid, you need to exercise the components, etc. All things to think about.
Everything you say is true however only old goats like me and possibly you think about things like that. The majority of today’s people look no further than the end of their nose and only think half that far. That’s why the RV industry’s over building, parks are not expanding (if they have thee room), and young buyers are rushing into buying before researching what they are getting into. There is a lot of work being an RVer, it’s a life style not a 2 week vacation that they turn their back to at the end of the vacation. I think as others have said over the next 18 months there will be thousands of late model lightly used RVs for sale cheap just to get out of that 20 ar loan they signed this year.
To more realistically compare supply of RV sites to demand you have to compare the number of nights of sites available to the number of nights of sites needed. If there are 1.2M sites in existence and, you assume (roughly, back of the envelope guestimate) half are available year round and half available half of the year, that results in 324M site-nights available. If the 9.5M RVers use their rig on average 30 nights a year (again, back of the envelope generous usage) that results in ~285M site-nights of demand.
So, the overall numbers aren’t that far out of whack. Where the pressure is, is RV park sites in highly desirable locations. The percentage of capacity usage for an RV park near, say DisneyWorld is likely much higher than one in rural Kansas.
Agreed
Great comparison
Naw, no problems. The RV’s built in 2021 most likely won’t be able to get more than 5 to 10 miles from the dealer for warranty work, and that will take 60-90 days for each problem.
It will be be couple of years before those half million units are being enjoyed. 😂
Sad, but unfortunately might be true!
How true but in 2022 they should have the problems fixed and have them for sale
You and Gary G hit the nail on the head!!
Have a feeling that many of these RVs, as has been postulated before, will be for sale in 2021-22 when many of these purchasers will find that RV life is not for them. They will of course lose thousands of dollars.
You beat me too it.
Count me as one we have a RV my wife loves it I am not into the rude people we have had to endure. I wish we were on the way out of RVing
Glad I camp in Kansas… I did buy my first new rv this yr. Not an impulse for me. Been using popup campers for years. It is actually getting busier in Kansas too. I do think it will get worse. I haven’t traveled out of state for awhile. Went to Colorado in 2016. Was ok then. How does that compare to this year?
The Colorado State parks have been pretty full this year once they re-opened, but we still got a spot at Trinidad Lake State Park in early October by reserving about six weeks in advance. The National Forest Service campgrounds are generally easier to get into (but don’t normally have any hookups.) We also stayed at the Gunnison, Colorado KOA in early July and I think we only reserved that one about two weeks in advance. Overall, we didn’t perceive any major problems with camping in Colorado this year except for the April-May time period when so much was shut down.
Trinidad State Park. Good to know. I’m going to create a video on this for my YouTube channel and post on Instagram and Tiktok. Should be good for a few grand. Thanks.
My point is this: the problem is not the industry, but the number of people exploiting the lifestyle for their own financial gain. You won’t see that impact posted on anyone’s blog.
So what are we supposed to do? For starters, if there’s a spot you like or that you could get reservations, shut the #*$@ up about it!!!
“Posting it ruins it.”
Leave nothing but physical footprints; leave no digital footprints!!
We’ve been campers for close to 40 years. First in tents, later in travel trailers. We just sold our last camper and truck. We are now officially retired from camping. Too many Rvs, people, kids and dogs. We always stayed in state parks, primarily in Florida, now almost impossible to get our favorite sites. It was fun, but we feel we’ve gotten out while the getting is good.
Azalea M., we too have been camping together for close to 40 years in the same progression tents, popup, travel trailer, and now third 5th wheel. Living in Florida it use to be so easy to find a site in one of our State parks, now you have to snag one nearly a year in advance. Right now we’re talking about selling our RV and just buying a get-a-way in the mountains of TN. Miss the good old days here in Florida.
Something else to consider: Price of gas and Diesel has plummeted making long road trips more attractive to RV’rs, probably our biggest travel cost are Storage, Fuel, insurance, then Cost of campgrounds near the bottom. A new Glamping spot has just opened in Spring Bay IL(Sankoty Lakes specializing in Trout fishing).
Another thing that is not clear with the quoted sales of RV’s, is this for the calendar year or model year? With many RV manufacturers they have been selling model year 2021 RV’s since April of 2020.
Right, that and just because there are many more being produced, doesn’t mean they will all be purchased and used. When the vaccine is widespread people will go back to flying and hotels, I hope!
In my travel experience, it would be nice if state and federal campgrounds would open a little earlier and stay open a little later in the season. Open up in April and stay open through October. They don’t have to the water on. Sometimes we just need a place to stay. We don’t always need a host either.
We are full timers and what I don’t like and think is wrong is the RV parks that let people store their RV in the parks year round, the worst state that does this is Nebraska especially the ones that say no holding spots and first come first serve. And also the cost of them 500.00$ a month and up which is outrageous
Your math is moire than a little bit off. It’s an 18.6% increase in sites over the previous year,
I’m glad you caught that (percentage) issue.
When they things go back to normal in the next year or two there will such a glut of used and new rvs they will be giving them away after the surge of bankruptcies. Plus people will quickly go back to flying and cheap hotel rates. Before the pandemic it was cheaper for the average family to go on trips by flying and staying in hotels vs putting up with storing, the upkeep, Gas, Insurance, having a big pick up and paying for campground space of a RV. This will come back on the entire industry in a negative way from lenders to campgrounds.
Many of them will be spending the night (or nights) in the dealer’s parking lot…waiting to get serviced.
You are so right….
While many reasons for record RV sales these days, do not understand from these articles why they imply that the only places RVers can stay are at RV parks – with full hookups only. Really?
The point of RV ownership is having the flexibility to park & stay in a variety of situations. If the only place we wanted to stay were RV parks then we might as well just buy a doublewide and plant ourselves into the ol’ mobile home park down the road.
Traveling throughout the West since June reservations could be hard to make in most N.P.s. But most are always booked up every summer. But there are so many other options – many far superior! BLM land, CGs at National Forests, State Parks, Country & City parks, Boondockers Welcome, Harvest Hosts, driveway surfing, moochdocking, Walmarts, Cabelas, etc, etc,. There are also last minute cancelations that spring up in most parks.
Your RV was built to offer self-contained flexibility – use it!
😂 😂 😂 🤣 So on point!!
While I don’t disagree, this of how the RV industry is selling the life style. Fancy RV’s with all the perks of home or a resort. The sell is not your parents camping trip. It is a resort “vaca” except you are pulling your hotel room. They want all the stuff for the kids, full hookups and all regular stuff like internet and cable. Heck, I think a new job could be a traveling tank dump service. Hmmm. Maybe my new retirement career. Will be interesting.
Math error by a factor of 100 changes the whole context of article’s point. Looks to me like like new site projections are pretty favorable.
😏 yep I caught it also, lol lol. Im between RVs, down sizing to RUV Van life! I’m so excited to get back out there.
I took my wife to see beautiful Utah in October and it was a nightmare. We travel in fall and winter to avoid crowds. Yea, right! Zero camping available at any national parks, rookie rv’ers uncountable, kids running wild because they’re not in school, etc. We drove around for fifteen minutes without finding a spot in the gigantic parking lot outside Zion visitor center.
Every area we visited was the same. Private campgrounds were almost as bad. I know that covid has limited people’s options, but I’d have never believed it would get to this level. I can only hope that it’s temporary.
I can see this occurring this year, but as we get the pandemic under control I think next year with schools back in session (in school teaching), the fall and winter seasons should be better. I also believe in the next year (or 2), the new camping craze will drop-off, as many families (read Mom) get tired of camping and want “resort” style vaca’s. Time will tell.
This too shall pass.
I am a retired Army Colonel, these issues are the reason I created UpClose-RV. After running into problems finding a place to stay in my last two years of service, we created our little company to help RVers and property owners alike.
Another service like Airbnb designed specifically for RV is CurbNTurf.