RV sales have dropped and fuel prices risen to
dizzy heights. Some RV manufacturers and some dealers have
been forced out of business; others have problems.
For many RVers, however, none of these current economic problems
affect their lifestyle very much. Many RoTi readers tell us
that the only effect they foresee is to take shorter trips.
"RVing is better and cheaper than flying and staying in hotels" says
Marie Kenning, "and we prefer sleeping in our own bed."
Marie says she travels about 6000 miles a year and fuel price
increases mean, at the most, an extra $1000 per year. "It's a
lot of money but not enough to effect our lifestyle which we love
and would not change."
RV parks are staying busy too, despite high gas prices. The
Rochester, MN, Post-Bulletin reports:"Even with gasoline prices
lingering around $4 a gallon, local RV parks say it's had just
minimal impact on the number of visitors staying with them in the
big, gas-consuming campers.
'At the start of the season, which is April, we did (see an
impact) for the months of April and May,' said Mike Wilson manager
of the Silver Lake Motor Coach Resort on North Broadway. 'What we
found was, instead of coming up ahead of time, people were trying to
plan more. But now, this summer, since June, our number of
reservations is about the same as last year.'
However, Wilson said that they are seeing shorter stays.
'People are not coming a day or two ahead,' he said, 'and they
aren't lingering a day or two later like they used to.' "
But this effect may not be so benign in smaller tourist
destinations. The Associated Press reports that in Chama, NM,
"The summer tourist season in this tiny
mountain town is well under way, and the quiet RV park nestled under
towering cottonwoods ought to be full.
But with diesel fuel nearly $5 a gallon at the local gas station,
Russell and Marji Patterson are seeing a drop-off in business at the
riverside campground they've operated for almost three decades.
There are fewer campers -- on a recent Friday afternoon the park
is only about three-fourths occupied -- and family groups are
noticeably absent.
Russell Patterson says he's learned to live with the ups and
downs of a tourist-oriented business in a remote area of the
southern Rockies where a scenic railroad and outdoor recreation are
about the only draws.
"But this gas thing -- this is sucking all the extra money out of
the American household," said Patterson. "The mainstream won't
feel it as much ... but back towns like this can really get hurt."
The bottom line? The San Jose Mercury News sums it up like
this: "Diesel fuel, which many of the larger motor homes slurp up,
has risen about a buck — or 35 percent — since this time last year.
And while the RV community adapts by targeting parks closer to home,
the folks who build and sell the rigs are feeling the pinch of the
wider economic malaise.
'The down market is winnowing out some of the manufacturers and
dealers on the fringe,' said Tom Walworth of Statistical Surveys.
His Michigan firm tracks sales in an industry with about 600,000
recreational vehicles on the roads nationwide — from pull-behind
trailers up to Class A monster motor homes.
'The Fleetwoods and Winnebagos are also feeling the pain, but
they'll hang in there,' Walworth said of the industry's leading
names. 'People love the RV lifestyle, and they're very loyal.' "
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