Excerpted from an article in SGB Executive
With the RV (recreational vehicle) industry seeing record sales over the last three years at a double-digit growth pace, it’s no surprise to Frank Hugelmeyer, president of the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA), that camping is seeing an uptick.
“Camping obviously is what everyone in an RV is doing, and the RV industry is on a multi-year trend of growth,” said Hugelmeyer. “But we’re seeing [camping’s momentum] in participation studies and we’re seeing it in sales of the gear. The experience economy, or the recreation economy, is without question getting stronger.”
Hugelmeyer’s comments follow the release of the 2018 North American Camping Report, an annual independent study supported by Kampgrounds of America Inc. (KOA), that found more than six million new North American households have adopted the camping lifestyle since 2014. Driven by younger and more diverse campers, camping is expected to continue to see further healthy climbs in participation in the years ahead.
Hugelmeyer said the outdoor industry’s overall strength was also underscored in a recent report by the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) that included the outdoor recreation industry in its calculations for the first time. BEA is the government agency responsible for reporting U.S. GDP.
Released in February, the BEA’s report found outdoor recreation accounted for 2.0 percent ($373.7 billion) of current-dollar GDP in 2016. In addition, the outdoor recreation economy grew 3.8 percent in 2016, easily ahead of the 2.8 percent growth in the overall economy.
The report further showed RVs playing a significant role in that growth. “Motorized Vehicles” was the largest activity within “Conventional Outdoor Recreation” in 2016, accounting for $59.4 billion of gross output. Accounting for $30 billion in direct economic activity in 2016, RVs accounted for more than half of that value.
The KOA report likewise found that RV usage remains strong, as does the desire among non-RV owners to try RVing. Indeed, many who are RVing say they are borrowing RVs from friends or family rather than owning their own or renting from a company. A particularly encouraging sign for RVs is the finding that about seven-in-10 RVers are millennials or Gen Xers, according to the KOA report.
Hugelmeyer said what appears to make the recent strong growth trend in RVs, as well as camping, sustainable is that it’s being driven by multi-generational growth.
“We’re seeing the Boomers continuing to retire and support RV purchases, but the real growth in the RV industry is the 35-year-olds with kids,” said Hugelmeyer. A core underlying driver of RV growth continues to be urbanization. With more people living in cities, many are looking to enjoy experiences with the outdoors but would rather not waste that time with old-school tasks, such as setting up tents.
“They want to just show up and do the experiences that they came there for, which could be anything from biking to skiing, fishing or hiking,” said Hugelmeyer. “Or even just sitting around the campfire, relaxing and socializing with friends. And I think that has a lot to do with why the RV industry is on such a tremendous rise right now in all demographics and ethnicities.”
According to the FOA report, tent usage still remains consistent and is the highest camping accommodation with 61 percent of campers identifying tents as their primary way of camping, up from 54 percent in 2014. About one-fourth (24 percent) of all campers use an RV as their primary way of camping, up from 21 percent in 2014. The accommodation taking a hit was cabins, which slid to 14 percent from 21 percent in 2014.
Overall, Hugelmeyer sees the traditional outdoor industry continuing to merge with the RV space to open up opportunities for both sides. He cited Camping World’s acquisition of Gander Mountain and Overton’s, followed by its acquisition of a number of smaller shops in Erehwon Mountain Outfitters, The House, Uncle Dan’s and Windward/W82, as an example of that emerging opportunity.
Read the complete story in SGB Executive.
##RVT842
God help us! As a full-time RV’er the multitudes of people purchasing RV’s is alarming. Already there are not enough parks or camping facilities to accommodate those of us who are on the road. Great for the RV dealers and manufacturers. They are laughing all the way to the bank. For those of us who live in our RV full-time finding a place to park them to avoid seasonal change or to travel a few months of the year, is becoming a nightmare. I can only imagine what will become of all the thousands of RV’s being purchase when there are no longer facilities to hold them?
Can you publish Frank’s contact information. I’d like to give him a piece of my mind.