Today we’ll be going over recent RV news and the very latest travel trends. There have been some interesting things occurring just this past week that are noteworthy.
First up, as mentioned in a prior news release, traditional forms of travel have seen growth stagnate lately likely due to the reemergence of pandemic concerns. TSA checkpoint numbers are showing air travel is now trending back below the 80% of 2019 levels. There is no sign that air travel is going to ramp back up to 2019 levels anytime soon given the latest health trends. This seems to be in direct correlation to the latest news of increased hospitalizations nationwide.
This week two pieces of RV news emerged that point to a change in the RV market. First, the record-breaking growth in RV shipments seems to be waning. While total July 2021 numbers of wholesale shipments of RVs still outpaced prior years, the growth in shipments has certainly slowed.
You can look at this in detail on johnmarucci.com in the Resources area. First, notice that only Travel Trailers and Class B Camper Vans outpaced all prior years in shipments. Even 5th Wheel Travel Trailers fell behind prior years in July. There are some things that may be causing this, like model year changeovers and mid-summer factory slowdowns. There may also be continued parts shortages in play. Yet, bottom line, RV shipments have slowed. We’ll have a better gauge of the trend as we get August wholesale shipment numbers in late September.
The other main thing that has changed just this past week is the increasing number of used RVs for sale on RV Trader. The number of used RVs for sale hit over 40,000 for the first time since May 27, 2020, which is a significant marker. Unlike new units for sale, which can include dealer inventory in transit or in production, the number of used units are real inventory available currently on RV Trader. As important is the rate of growth, as it has increased 8.2% or 3,100 units in just over a month. This is opposite of the trend a year ago during the pandemic. I think at this point many current RV owners are aware of the heady prices for used RVs and may be looking to sell as the camping season comes to a close.
Speaking of camping, Yellowstone National Park hosted 1,080,767 recreation visits in July 2021, making it the most-visited July on record. This is a 13% increase from July 2020 (955,645 recreational visits) and a 15% increase from July 2019 (936,062 recreation visits). Obviously, it has been a crowded summer camping nationwide. At some point this will stem the tide of growth in RVs as those who buy RVs realize just how difficult it is to use the RVs just purchased. Some of the best places to RV are simply not available during peak season.
Generally, my advice is to consider RV camping off-season if possible. I know the summer camping we did in Michigan was not the best experience, both in terms of crowds and in terms of what seemed like the worst mosquito season I’ve seen in a few years. It has almost made me a total contrarian and wanting to avoid in-season camping altogether. While many people can’t camp off-season due to work or school commitments, others can and should consider it. Mid-to-late fall seems to be a great time to be in the northern states given cooler temps, fewer bugs, and great fall colors. If interested in State Park camping in the fall, remember that we have a State Park booking map available on johnmarucci.com. It makes it easy to go directly to the state park booking site you are looking for.
Ok, that’ll be it for now. On an upcoming episode, we plan to answer questions from and for brand new RVers. We have a bunch of content for new RVers and will pull some questions from our many YouTube videos targeted to new RVers, but if you are new to RVing and have a specific question that you’d like answered, please email the question and your name to john@johnmarucci.com.
Have a great Labor Day holiday, stay safe, this is John Marucci, and so long for now!
All the best in your camping endeavors!
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