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The News Update is all about getting up-to-speed on the latest RV news that may impact you. We look at various sources and try to boil the news down to a few main items to review. First up…
Traditional forms of travel continue to be hit hard…
TSA checkpoint numbers this past week (May 28-June 3) are showing 13% of prior year volume. This is a slow increase from 8% four weeks ago. Air travel is recovering very slowly. 16.8M people traveled by air this past week in 2019 compared to only 2.2M this year. We learned last show that 94% of people still plan to vacation in 2020, which likely means more vacations by car and RV.
Meanwhile new and used inventory on RV Trader continues to decline. There has been just under a 10% decline from 156k to 142k new and used RVs for sale. While there are plenty of RVs still available, the drop shows increasing demand.
Thor Ramping up Production
We reported on the last show that the RV industry is seeing a spike in sales. Thor Industries is increasing production at some of its RV facilities in response to “higher than organically expected dealer demand” in the weeks since resuming manufacturing operations in the US.
Bob Martin (CEO) of Thor, “In addition to providing a personal space that allows people to maintain social distance in a safe manner, (the RV life) also allows people to connect with loved-ones, provides the ability to get away for short, frequent breaks or longer adventures, and helps people reconnect to nature or explore some of the many attractions that are often just a drive away.” (RV News – May 29)
Campendium Open Status as of 6-4-2020
- Eighteen out of fifty state park campgrounds systems are currently closed, have delayed opening, or are open to state residents only: California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming
- As of 6/4/2020, 19% of U.S. based campsites listed on Campendium.com are closed, down from a high of 46% in late April.
Keystone HyperDeck
In the last show we talked briefly about the new Keystone HyperDeck flooring, which is water resistant. I first saw this in a video about 18 months ago where Keystone demonstrated it at a tradeshow by having pieces of the floor floating in water without absorbing any moisture. It is currently in the Keystone Bullet and Premiere trailers. Here is a quick look…
My Take…
June is likely to be back-to-camping month. Almost all state parks will be open by the end of June for overnight reservations given some social distancing restrictions. It will be interesting to see how this plays out with so many people buying RVs just now. Some places will restrict bathhouse usage, so you’ll want to plan on using your RV bathroom just in case. Likely this will curtail some tent and light trailer camping.
All the best on your camping endeavors!
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