500,000 rigs sold in 2020

[Grumpy]

Looks like finding a site is going to even get worse.

From RV Business:

Best November Ever for Retail Sales; 2020 Could Top 500,000

https://rvbusiness.com/best-november...ld-top-500000/

[Woodworker]

Ayyiyi. Wish I had a couple million laying around I'd start a campground. A huge campground

[Jagiven]

Here is historical RV sales from 1981 to 2019

https://www.rvia.org/historical-rv-data

I do not believe the growth rate of increased campsites have matched the RV sales growth rate.

I bet the number of hotel rooms have grown exponentially over that period.

[Grumpy]

Originally Posted by Jagiven

I do not believe the growth rate of increased campsites have matched the RV sales growth rate.

For sure. The FL county we live in, near WDW, says no more RV parks.

[Woodworker]

I talked to a guy that owns an RV store an he was in the process of building an rv park not far from Rome, Ga. He said it took a lot of work just to get it zoned an the project approved. If I remember right he was 3 or 4 yrs in an the first shovel hadn't hit the dirt yet. I don't know what the status of it is now. Place was goin to be huge with all the amenities including a small store with rv pieces parts.
Now that I remember that I don't know that even with a few million laying around I'd want to go thru the hassle he did of building a park

[matt1751]

One of the campgrounds I go to regularly and have to book sometimes a year out told me they had several people show up over the summer wanting a spot and got all mad when they said sorry were full. I bet this is happening all over the place with all the people who went out and bought new RV's last year.

[Scott_Trailer_Newbe]

Booking a year out has been the norm for a long time at Az State Parks. I suspect once the pandemic crap is in the rear view mirror there are going to be a LOT of trailers dumped onto the used market. A lot of these first time trailer owners haven’t yet discovered the camping lifestyle isn’t their cup of tea.

[LowOnCash]

LOL this is really strange - if you guys remember back in 08 the RV industry barely survived. When Covid came along, first thoughts were this would be the end of RV's, however as we learned more about Covid we realized that RV's would be the safest method of travel.

Stay Safe Guys - Mike

[cbeers]

I read they predict 19% increase in sales for 2021.

[TaftCoach]

Originally Posted by Scott_Trailer_Newbe

Booking a year out has been the norm for a long time at Az State Parks. I suspect once the pandemic crap is in the rear view mirror there are going to be a LOT of trailers dumped onto the used market. A lot of these first time trailer owners haven’t yet discovered the camping lifestyle isn’t their cup of tea.

I guess that depends on how you define a LOT.

New trailers depreciate heavily as they are driven off the lot. Since most of those were financed for ten or fifteen years with low down payments, I do not see 100,000 people ruining their credit and allowing the banks to repossess.

I also believe many of the new owners are campers who needed an extra push to make the purchase. I also believe many of the first timers will be more of the Yogi Bear and KOA campers.

[Seann45]

[QUOTE=Woodworker;927455]Ayyiyi. Wish I had a couple million laying around I'd start a campground. A huge campground[/QU


Have you read about the problems people are having trying open new campgrounds? The public lobbies city hall "no we dont want these near us"

[TaftCoach]

[QUOTE=Seann45;927940]

Originally Posted by Woodworker

Ayyiyi. Wish I had a couple million laying around I'd start a campground. A huge campground[/QU


Have you read about the problems people are having trying open new campgrounds? The public lobbies city hall "no we dont want these near us"

Especially when the public sees older "campgrounds" with derelict full time units. I remember one campground in New Mexico that we had a reservation at. We left without checking in, we just called and cancelled. There was no way I could have slept soundly there. When I mentioned that to the owner of the park we eventually stayed at he said that many in the campground industry believe that only allowing newer units is critical to keep that tide of public opinion from overwhelming them.

[Big1]

Wow, that's not too bad I just wish that their is a way for me to cash in into some of those big dollars.

[Hollander Mutthaulers]

Still love our 16XRB - two "full" KOAs graciously rented us small tent sites last year with 15A power - plenty enough for overnight. Thanks, KOAs! We'll see you next time we're in town!

[Andrewf]

If I had a piece of property big enough for a campground, and couldn't use it for anything else, I'd give serious consideration to turning it into an RV storage lot. No utilities, no store, no paved streets etc. No 24 hours a day gotta be there and very little overhead. A couple hundred RV's at ~$40/month. Hmm....
I'm curious where the majority of folks who purchased these hundreds of thousands of RV's are storing them when not in use? There's an RV storage lot about five miles from where I live. There must be 250-300 RV's plus boats sitting there.

[mercman]

I'm living in my 264BHW while I'm building an earth sheltered home in the CO mountains.

I got a call from the dealer in Golden that I bought my TT from wishing me a Happy New Year?!?!? Oh and BTW do you want to sell yours?

[RPR]

The number of used RV sell lots may surpass the used automobile sell lots!

[Midnightmoon]

Originally Posted by Andrewf

If I had a piece of property big enough for a campground, and couldn't use it for anything else, I'd give serious consideration to turning it into an RV storage lot. No utilities, no store, no paved streets etc. No 24 hours a day gotta be there and very little overhead. A couple hundred RV's at ~$40/month. Hmm....
I'm curious where the majority of folks who purchased these hundreds of thousands of RV's are storing them when not in use? There's an RV storage lot about five miles from where I live. There must be 250-300 RV's plus boats sitting there.

You definitely have a point there. Just a few miles from me is an abandoned factory (former National Envelope plant). Anyway, it was sold a few months back and you can see that they have been working on renovating the structure. The other day I noticed that they just put up a sign advertising indoor RV storage. It looks like that at least the entire rear of the place that used to be the manufacturing floor is now going to be dedicated storage. This is a huge structure and you better believe that they wouldn't be putting the money in to it if there wasn't the demand.

[RPR]

Campgrounds of the future..........multi layer.....premium sites will be on the upper level where campfires are permitted!

[t18skyguy]

Originally Posted by Grumpy

Looks like finding a site is going to even get worse.

From RV Business:

Best November Ever for Retail Sales; 2020 Could Top 500,000

https://rvbusiness.com/best-november...ld-top-500000/

I recently read that sales of Class B's are up 45%, far outpacing all other types.