The Great American Road Trip is still on this summer, but higher gas prices have those motoring in recreational vehicles planning ventures closer to home.
“People do continue to go RV-ing, they just adjust their behaviors some,” a spokesperson for the RV Industry Association told CBS MoneyWatch.
Already popular, traveling RV-style became even more so after COVID-19 hit in 2020, with a record 600,000 of the travel homes sold last year, up 19%, according to the trade group. “We have 40 years of long-term growth, supercharged by the pandemic,” she added.
The trend remains strong even as the pandemic ebbs, with RV shipments up 10% in April from the year-ago period, and shipments this year rising 14%.
Higher inflation and fuel costs may keep some people from purchasing a recreational vehicle in the first place, but they’re not dissuading RV owners from planning trips to explore the outdoors, according to RV group, which cites its own surveys as well as those conducted by RV rental companies.
“It’s a barrier to entry, but for those who have RV-ed, they know it’s a way to control travel costs,” including food and accommodations, the spokesperson said. Those traveling in mobile homes can stay at campsites and cook their own meals — less pricey options than hotels and restaurants, she noted.
