Recognizing the changing communications climate, Go RVing has launched itself into the social media universe and is continuing to increase its presence, engaging the consumer more interactively on GoRVing.com and popular websites including Facebook, and Yahoo’s Instant Messaging.

Visitors to GoRVing.com can now get ideas and inspiration for a family vacation or getaway with friends while playing “Hit the Road,” the interactive travel game added to the website to give consumers a virtual preview of what they can experience when they hit the road in an RV.

Players earn points by traveling state by state in a virtual RV as they choose destinations, while information about attractions in the area appears on the screen. If the player is interested in physically visiting the destination, they click on “Driving Directions” and Mapquest is engaged.

“Hit the Road” allows players to earn bonus points by playing three extra mini-games. “Interstate of Mind” is a true/false trivia game with questions about the state the player is currently traveling in. “Crank it Up” is a race against the clock to open a folding camping trailer, and “Flight of the Pumpkin” is a silly points-building virtual slingshot.

“Go RVing is keeping pace with America’s growing interest in online games and virtual travel planning,” said Gary LaBella, RVIA vice president and chief marketing officer. "The ‘Hit The Road’ game is a terrific way for families to plan for a real-life RV adventure before they even leave home. It's edu-tainment.”

The same new interactive games housed on the Go RVing website are also available on the popular free Yahoo! Instant Messenger (IM) service. Yahoo users can also access customized conversation screen images that depict RVing scenes, view Go RVing TV ads, read descriptions of RV types, and download popular recipes from GoRVing.com.

Go RVing has also unveiled a “fan page” on the popular Facebook site, serving 50 million users. Would-be and current RV enthusiasts can gather to learn about RVing, link to the Go RVing website, view photo albums of RV trips and the Go RVing ad campaigns, watch video postings and communicate with each other via the comment wall.

Internet users flock to blog pages for conversation and information. A newly introduced blog on GoRVing.com is being authored by well-known travel author and RVIA spokesperson Brad Herzog as he and his family take their annual summer RV roadtrip. The blog includes photos posted by Brad and his wife Amy along the way. Readers are encouraged to post their stories, comments, photos and videos of their own family RV trips.

“Hit the Road,” Facebook and the Go RVing blog are all accessible through links from the homepage of GoRVing.com.