Are you one of the millions who took to the road to watch today’s eclipse? RVs played a big role in the solar eclipse, as you may have “observed” yourself.
How RVs played a big role in the eclipse—by the numbers
As touted by the RV Industry Association, one survey showed just how big a part recreational vehicles are playing in this solar achievement. The industry reports that Cairn Consulting said 29% of all those traveling for leisure would take in the big event. The big number, 56.4 million individuals, will go to see the eclipse of the sun. Of them, 14.1 million “are planning to travel or stay in an RV” for the eclipse. Breaking that down a bit farther, that’s nearly 25% of all vehicles being used.
That’s a statistic that must warm the hearts of RV rental agencies. Forbes noted that of the states along the path of totality saw a major flood of RV rentals. Some states reported RV bookings skyrocketing by some 700% over April 8 of last year. Ohio was the capper, with more than a 1,000% booking increase. Campground owners, too, shared in eclipse revenue. Yep, RVs played a big role in the eclipse.
##RVT1152b
We drove to Ohio for a funeral without our rig. We stayed in a KOA cabin in Salem , Ohio. By the time we left yesterday the KOA was almost full.
3 night minimum stay at this RV park in south-central Texas (on the path) during the eclipse. About 1/3 of the RVs arrived late Sunday. A number of them pulled out within a hour of totality. Most booked a year or more in advance.
Now to put that in perspective. We are seasonal residents. And most of the seasonal residents pull out mid to late April up until June. In other words, crossing the day of the eclipse. A number of the seasonal regulars did not show up this year for their 5-6 months stays. They didn’t make their reservation a year in advance. A number of spring-only visitors did not show either. All those sites sat empty generating no revenue.
Not hard to figure out why.
Thank you, Russ and Tiňa! 🙂 Interesting information. We didn’t, but not everyone did. Newton the [Newmar] New Aire could have left the shop today, but not in time for us to view the partial eclipse from him here in the southern edge of East Tennessee. We’ll bring him home tomorrow. 🙂 Thanks again and safe travels! 🙂
Hi, Neal. I couldn’t figure out why your two recent comments were held for moderation. Turns out you had a typo in your email address (you put an “e” for your last initial), so our comment screener thought you were a new commenter. And I was working on something else so it took me a few minutes to notice comments were being held. Sorry. Have a good night. 😀 –Diane
Thank you, Diane! 🙂 I hadn’t noticed. (yes, I’m blonde, or was when I had hair) I’ve a new computer and it and I have yet to make peace. Also, I usually do all this on my phone, but part of bringing my new computer (Windows 11, yuck, yuck, and yuck) to heel is using it quite a bit tonight. Thank you for approving my comments, Diane. Please forgive my ham-fingeredness. 🙂 Good night! 🙂
To me RVing to a state campground in Indiana for the eclipse was the only way to go. It was inexpensive and there was no traffic to contend with. We got there the day before and left two days after. It was perfect, no chaos and a bargain!
We drove from Utah to Texarkana, TX to meet up with 14 other families that we met on a FB owners group of our particular model rig. We had people who attended from every corner of the USA. The cloudy skies cleared right as the eclipse started and we delighted in over 3 minutes of totality. It was an event of a lifetime and so worth the drive! We are currently meandering our way home through the Southwest staying at state parks. It’s been a wonderful trip so far.