RV Industry Boom Spurring More RV Parks

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed many people's lives and businesses' circumstances, mostly for the negative. In the RV world though, the pandemic pushed the industry to a new height, and some local businesses have experienced this good fortune as well.

Dave and Leslie Cochran are the new owners of the Four Seasons RV Acres business east of Abilene. Their inventory has been affected by the national shortages, but as their products have become more available, their sales have increased. The increase though is just a sample of what is being seen nationally.

"The supply chain has been what's keeping us from probably completely blowing everything out of the water from a growth standpoint," Dave Cochran said.

"RV sales were on a climb anyways," Leslie Cochran said. "So in 2017, [the industry] had the biggest year in RV sales ever. So there was an increase happening already. I think everything with COVID spurred that on."

According to a historical data chart by the RV Industry Association, the 2017 record is around 504,600 RV units sold. Since 2016, industry sales have been over 400,000. That trend looks to continue in 2021, with the association predicting around 577,200 units will be sold. Before 2016, the previous record for sales was back in 2006 with just under 390,500.

[...]

Each owner has their own explanation as to why the RV industry has thrived throughout the pandemic. Dave and Leslie Cochran have a few. First is the improvement of the quality of RVs is one reason.

"An RV used to be a really plain simple piece of equipment. Now, it's got automatic leveling jacks. I can digitally control it from wherever I am, I can keep track of the air conditioning, know the temperature inside," Dave Chochran said. "The RV has greatly increased in inserting technology."

This increase of technology in RVs, Dave Cochran said, has "leapfrogged" over the past few years. A second reason is RVs are more able to boondock, setting up in the wilderness without having to stay at an RV park.

Read the full article from Yahoo! News here.