RV Industry Association President Reflects On 2018 And Expectations For The New Year

Once again, it is that time of year when we take a step back and personally reflect. The winter holiday is also a time when dynamic organizations take stock of the year gone by and reset expectations that will kickstart fresh initiatives for the New Year.

For us at the RV Industry Association, 2018 has been a profound year of both change and progress. We worked closely with our member community and stakeholders to tackle some of the most pressing issues facing our industry, including improving the consumer experience and expanding our target markets. In doing so, we’re delivering more strongly upon our mission to “promote and protect the RV industry and our members.” 

This year, we completed several major strategic initiatives and achieved new milestones for our members. Let’s take a moment to review.

In 2018, we saw the government recognize outdoor recreation as an undeniably important economic sector for the very first time, accounting for an impressive 2.2% of the U.S. GDP.  The RV community also gained an important voice on the new Outdoor Recreation Advisory Committee within the Department of the Interior that strives to boost access to our nation's public lands and increase outdoor tourism in order to connect more Americans to the great outdoors. Both occurrences prove the growing presence and clout of the RV industry at a federal level.

Meanwhile, the Association team modernized our entire digital infrastructure by implementing new CRM and CMS platforms, refreshing RV Industry Association’s branding and updating all of our web content; established a new trade show concept with more relevant and exciting offerings tailored to our members; began to actively address repair event cycle times and technical education through the conceptualization and funding of the RV Technical Institute; and maintained the industry’s valued self-regulation and the drive towards campground modernization. Last, but certainly not least, Go RVing has had its best year to date and enjoyed a record 16 million views of its “Unexpected” video series. 

For 2019, we are looking to build upon our 2018 investments. As the year kicks off, we will stand up the RV Technical Institute, including a comprehensive update of all our technical training curricula, and we will expand our fleet of regional technical training partners. We will also unveil RVX: The RV Experience to RV dealers and our end consumers by highlighting the best-selling and most innovative RVs. RVX will deliver must see dealer-focused educational tools and seminars, magnify the importance of technical service and recognize outstanding industry achievement. Concurrently, and for the first time ever, Go RVing will kick off our nation’s RV camping season by introducing targeted campaigns that will generate excitement across nine ready-to-buy consumer market segments. We also intend to continue strengthening our political advocacy at the federal and state levels.

Amid all of this activity and development, the RV Industry Association’s vision is unwavering and remains the same – “To be the proactive leader in promoting the health, growth and expansion of the RV Industry.” Our member-first approach and firm dedication to building greater member value and programming has brought us to this point, and there is no reason to doubt that it will sustain us into 2019 and well beyond.

Thank you all for being a valued member as we go on this journey and for your steadfast support of the RV Industry Association.

Happy holidays from all of us at the RV Industry Association and very best wishes to you and your family for a prosperous 2019!