Industry Insights – 4/1/14 Camper & RV Show

Flint Camper & RV Show Attendance Up over 24%

Flint, Mich., March 18, 2014—The 37th Annual Flint Camper & RV Show, sponsored by the Michigan Association of Recreation Vehicles & Campgrounds (MARVAC), proved successful as 24% more attendees braved the Michigan weather to attend. The show, which ran March 13-16, 2014, at the Perani Arena and Events Center, provided the perfect cure for cabin fever.

Bill Sheffer, show director for MARVAC commented, “What we’re seeing in the industry across the country is that the buyers of our RVs were typically the baby boomers, in their 50s and early

60s … people that had discretionary dollars to buy a recreation vehicle now, we’re seeing that age fall back into the 40s and 50s, where people have more established jobs and are more comfortable with the economy,” he said.

“They’re more comfortable with their home situation. We’re seeing a younger group of people now looking at recreation vehicles,” said Sheffer. “We’ve had a double digit increase in sales in Michigan over the last three years. We came out of the recession.”

RV wholesale shipments tracked by Recreation Vehicle Industry Association reached 321,127 units in 2013, a gain of 12.4% over the previous year. This was nearly twice the annual total of 2009 and marked the fourth consecutive annual increase since the end of the last recession for the RV industry. According to the Michigan Secretary of State office, 329,200 recreation vehicles are registered in the state of Michigan.

87 new recreation vehicles were on display at the Flint Camper & RV Show in Flint, Michigan. Show visitors were enthusiastic, and exhibitors were encouraged.

Tom Boynton, store manager of Trade Winds RV Center in Clio had this to say, “Excellent show, traffic was very good, a high percentage of our sales were towable and fifth wheel RVs. We doubled our sales from last year.”

MARVAC also sponsors shows in Novi, Battle Creek and Traverse City. For information on these shows, visit www.marvac.org.

The Michigan Association of Recreation Vehicles and Campgrounds (MARVAC) is a statewide, non-profit organization dedicated to encouraging growth in the recreation vehicle and private campground industries while contributing to Michigan tourism. For more information, visit www.marvac.org. MARVAC, 2222 Association Drive, Okemos, Mich. 48864; 517.349.8881.

Northwest Camper & RV Show Successful Despite the Continuation of Michigan’s Cold and Snowy Winter

The calendar told us that spring had officially started but the March 21-23 Northwest Michigan Camper & RV Show was about the only event that shouted “SPRING” at the Grand Traverse Civic Arena in Traverse City, Michigan. Nearly 2,500 visitors viewed 37 new recreation vehicles and visited fourteen booth exhibitors at this annual MARVAC event. The term “cabin fever” was used many times over the weekend by show goers, local media reporters and show staff members as RV enthusiasts inspected the latest in recreation vehicle offerings. Four MARVAC member dealers from northwest Michigan enjoyed visiting with potential buyers and reported lots of interest in purchasing a new vehicle in 2014.

Michelle Winters of Fun-N-Sun RV of Ludington was smiling at the end of the show on Sunday afternoon. “We had a lot of interest in the trailers we had on display at this year’s show. We have some definite sales and a number of great leads,” she reported. “It has been a very long winter and we needed a show like this to get our season started.”

Richfield Trailer Supply, Traverse City store manager, Connie Mann, experienced her first RV show as an exhibitor and remarked that the show visitors were glad to be thinking about spring and are ready to get their rigs out of the snow banks and get them ready for the upcoming camping season.

Now Accepting Nominations for MARVAC Board of Directors

Are you interested in becoming more involved in the RV and campground industry? Why not serve on the MARVAC Board of Directors? Nominate yourself or another industry member today! The board meets six times per year to identify the needs of the industry, and strategize ways to protect your business.

We are accepting nominations for the following: