Aloha Everyone,
Camping is no longer just a weekend or summer vacation activity for many. Especially for millennials, it is where they live, work and play. When J.J. and I embraced our RV adventure life-style in April 2014, there were vast choices of campgrounds. The cost for our stay was also reasonable. Fast forward to Summer 2017. According to the report by CBS News travel editor Peter Greenberg, a new trend is that many millennials are investing in the great outdoors.
Here are some barometers to measure this trend:
1. Camping posts on Instagram are now over 14 million.
2. A factory in Elkhart county, Indiana is expected to produce more than 70,000 recreational vehicles by the end of this year. This is a record.
3. Keystone RV, a subsidiary of the world's largest manufacturer, makes 42 RV's in a single day and their sales, year over year, are up 20 percent.
4. Of the estimated 75 million campers in the United States, 38 percent, or 1/3 are owned by millennials.
5. The RV industry as a whole is anticipating sales to reach 400,000 for the first time this year.
The good news is that catering to this new and emerging young market segment, manufacturers are providing millennials "must haves" such as solar and WiFi.
Downside is that as more and more millennials live, work and play using RVs as home, we may be competing with them for commercial and non-commercial RV sites as well as parking spaces especially in large cities.
Hopefully the increase means new campgrounds will be added and existing ones will be upgraded.
Aloha -- Cathi
