Low gas prices driving RV interest
DENVER – Young parents Jen and Sean Fitzgerald fell in love with family camping two years ago, piling into a tent with their three daughters at night and waking up in the morning to a double rainbow arching over a lake.
But after a rainy hike last summer that left everyone soaked and trying to get warm, the Fitzgeralds this week wandered the halls of the Denver convention center to explore a new option: a small recreational vehicle.
"It would be nice to have something that's one step up from a tent," said Jen Fitzgerald, 40. "We're tent campers and we really like tenting, but we're looking at options."
Specifically, the two are considering what's known as a hybrid RV, a small trailer they could tow with an SUV, but with pop-out beds for their three little "divas," she said.
"It's nicer than our house, and we have a nice house," Fitzgerald laughed.
With prices ranging from $15,000 to just shy of $1 million, Americans and international tourists alike have more options than ever when it comes to hitting the open road with a bed in tow. Or, for that matter, with dual sinks in the master bathroom of a 46,000-pound RV built on a behemoth bus chassis. The Newmar King Aire also has Sleep Number beds, four flat-screen televisions and a tablet to remotely manage the climate controls. Oh, and it also has a carbon-fiber steering wheel, and the driver sits in a captain's chair with a built-in massager.
While the King Aire is particularly extravagant, Bob Livingston, publisher of Trailer Life and Motorhome magazines, says buyers are demanding the same kinds of countertops and finishes they're accustomed to having in their homes. Many RVs at the show, for instance, have memory foam beds, laminate floors and Corian countertops.
Those amenities are driving massive growth in what has been a sagging industry hit hard by a lousy economy and sky-high gas prices. Last year RV dealers sold about 350,000 vehicles and trailers, and they expect to see even stronger growth this year, Livingston said. That's a return to pre-recession levels not seen in nearly a decade.
"The whole industry is on fire," said Livingston. "We are back, strong."
Bottom-of-the-barrel gas prices are also helping drive interest in the RV lifestyle, experts say. Tourists can pack up the family and make a long summer drive for cheaper than flying, especially when airlines with locked-in fuel costs haven't yet passed along fuel savings to passengers.
Livingston said there's been strong interest at both ends of the spectrum, from that $1 million King Aire to the small "Tab" trailers light enough to be towed behind a car. Also receiving significant interest are "Tiny House" style RVs, which some buyers remove from their wheels and use as a cozy home. At the Denver show, potential customers oohed and aahed over the wood-sided Tumbleweed Tiny Homes whose construction is overseen by Amish craftsmen in Colorado Springs.
"The older you get, the less you want," said Denise Ferguson after touring a Tumbleweed that comes with a sleeping loft and storage cubbies built into the stairs. "It's very cool."
The Fitzgeralds said they love camping because it helps connect their family at a time when handheld electronic distractions abound. But Jennifer Schwartz of the National Association of RV Parks & Campgrounds said campers increasingly want wifi so they can stay connected while getting off the grid, as conflicting as that sounds.
"People want to get away, but it's very difficult to give up that connectivity," she said. "People have different motivations for why they camp. Some want to get away from it all, disconnect, and relax. But others want to have all the amenities."
Livingston said many parents cherish the chance to sit around a campfire with their kids, sharing stories and playing music. And for those families who want to spend time together while getting back to nature, RVs have an undeniable attraction.
"It's pretty hard to hold a phone while you're roasting marshmallows," he said.