RV Podcast 233: The RVX Show and the Start of the 2019 Camping Season!

This special episode of the RV Podcast comes to you direct from Salt Lake City, Utah, where we are attending the RV Industry Association’s glitzy new RVX show, which has brought nearly 5,000 RV manufacturers, dealers, suppliers and media to this cold, wintry city to kick off the 2019 camping season with the introduction of new RVs, RV-related technology and new products aimed at the camping public. We’ll have interviews, inside information and more direct from the show floor. Show Notes for Episode #233 March 13, 2019 of The RV Podcast WHAT MIKE AND JENNIFER ARE UP TO THIS WEEK Part of the Reveal awards to the best in category RVs at the RVX show. This one is for the Unity 2020 Rear Lounge model from Leisure Travel Vans which won the best in the City Escape Category JENNIFER This is a busy week out here in Salt Lake City, where the area is under a winter weather advisory with lots of snow and high winds predicted during the show dates out here. We’re going to devote the whole podcast to this event out here, which is really a big deal as it’s done by the RVIA – the RV Industry Association, which is the influential trade group whose polices and promotions set much of the industry agenda. MIKE There was a lot of skepticism about this show this year. It replaces the traditional November show the RVIA did every year right after Thanksgiving in Louisville. That show suffered with dwindling attendance over its past several years because the Industry Open House in Elkhart, Indiana – the RV capital of the world - drew away most of the dealers who felt they couldn’t afford two industry shows a month apart. So Louisville ended in 2017 and the RVIA promises to reboot the show with RVX, which will go to different cities each year. And this one is the first, but there’s a lot riding on it. I’m hearing from a lot of manufacturer reps we’ve talked to that many dealers are not here. March is a busy time for them as they prepare for the new season and, let’s face it, Salt Lake City in March is not exactly a garden spot this time of year. JENNIFER There may be snow and wind outside, but inside the Salt Palace Convention Center, it does look a lot like spring. The displays are big and glitzy and we do want to compliment the RVIA for adding a lot of excitement to every aspect of this, including big reveals of new RVs, even RV concept vehicles. It reminds me of the big Detroit auto shows we have attended, with a touch of the Consumer Electronic Shows in Las Vegas. MIKE We were brought out here by Leisure Travel Vans, and we’re doing some meet and grets with those attending RVX at their booth. Plus we will be doing a live YouTube broadcast on our RV Lifestyle Channel Thursday March 14 at 3PM right from the show floor. And we’ll be learniung as much as we can about what’s coming in 2019 for the industry, which we promise to share with you. JENNIFER Now we should point out that this show is not open to the public. It’s just for the industry. But we’ll do the best we can to be your eye and ears and let you know the big news from here. Speaking of RV news, let’s do a quick check on the RV News of the Week. RV LIFESTYLE NEWS OF THE WEEK JENNIFER The 2018 list of the 10 most visited U.S. national parks released last week More than 318 million people visited America's national parks last year, with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park remaining America's most visited park in 2018, with 11.42 million visitors. Next up was the Grand Canyon National Park, with 6.38 million visitors, followed by the Rocky Mountain National Park with 4.59 million. All the parks are gearing up for another big tourism year in 2019. We visited Arches National Park in Utah this past weekend and learned that there is quite a controversy brewing about a proposal by the National Park System to limit visitors to the park during the peak spring and summer season to only those who make reservations. You’d have to reserve a time slot to enter the park, say 8AM…or 10 AM…or 2PM. The park wants to control the crowds which sometimes overwhelm it. Local residents in the gateway city of Moab are fighting this, saying it would reduce park visitors and therefore reduce local spending and hurt the town, which depends on tourism dollars. It’s not yet clear whether this plan will go into effect but its being considered for Arches… therefore, you can assume other parts with similar crowd problems may also propose such a system in the future. Stay tuned… MIKE Roadtrek creditors hiring a litigator and private investigator to hold Erwin Hymer Group accountable for possible criminal activity A growing group of 20 suppliers have banned together to hire a litigator and private investigator to look into the financial irregularities at Erwin Hymer Group, a story in the RV Daily Report announced last week. This would be the first step to open doors to potential criminal activity among Hymer executives which could make it possible for creditors to go after the personal asset