Editorial

Do We Have A Language Problem
in the RV industry?

Bob Zagami, Guest Editor

As we prepared to christen our new truck and trailer on its maiden journey to the Great Smoky Mountains and Nashville, it became quite evident that many of our friends and business associates still do not understand the benefits of the RV lifestyle.

Today's techno-literate society of over achievers may be a great potential market for the RV industry, but the market must come to the mountain. These people still need a lot of education if the industry is ever to realize the full potential that is waiting outside their campgrounds; RV dealer lots and industry trade shows.

It is not our intention to diminish the exceptional efforts of the industry's market expansion program. However, I do see signs that despite the significant investment made so far, we are still not reaching a large portion of the potential buyers who should be introduced to the RV lifestyle for the first time in their lives.

My vastly unscientific research done while preparing for this vacation would indicate that the word camping is not part of the vocabulary of many so-called baby-boomers. Call them what you like, but there are many people in the 45-60 age bracket that have never even considered the RV lifestyle ­ and never will ­ unless we can find a way to get them excited about the benefits this industry has to offer.

To support my unscientific work, I give you this analysis. When informing people of our vacation plans, if we said that we were going camping for a few weeks down South -- we got some very strange and confused looks. Why would two people in their mid-fifties elect to go camping when they could take a cruise or fly to a vacation destination resort? Certainly we can afford the alternative vacation, but many of these people had obviously never considered our alternative when making their vacation plans.

It was still puzzling to me that so many people would look with disfavor on the word camping when describing vacation plans. So I decided to try an experiment -- change the word! I started to tell people that I was going touring in an RV, and their interest changed dramatically. Touring? Could one little word make such a dramatic difference in the perception of our industry? I think it did.

Touring has an interesting aura of excitement to many of my same-age friends and business associates. To many of them, camping is simply a night in the woods without the amenities and luxuries so many of them have become accustomed to. Because they don't understand the RV industry and have never considered it part of their vacation and/or retirement plans, they do not have any idea how far the industry has advanced since their early memories of what camping was all about.

When I explained to them that we were traveling with all the amenities I have at home, including my ever-present computer, they began to listen more intently and asking some of the questions we must get this generation to ask if we ever expect them to become customers some day. They were intrigued that we would be touring at our leisure and would not be bound by train, boat or plane schedules. They were amazed to find out that we could wake up under the stars to the aroma of our Starbucks™ coffee brewing on the counter, just under the microwave oven.

It was interesting to see their reactions when we explained that touring was our preferred vacation because it allowed us to set our own timetable of events, destinations, and travel schedules based upon what we wanted to do -- when we wanted to do it. They were even more amazed that we could do all of this without giving up any of the so-called creature comforts that this generation, and the ones to follow, has become accustomed to.

Prospects demand more now than ever before. However, many of these people can not even be considered prospects because they don't have the slightest clue about the RV lifestyle.

Touring is what we do. It is also the equivalent to what many of our friends do when they go on vacation, the only difference is that we take our home with us and stop at the various destinations that we select according to our plans, not the travel agents.

Today's society is a mobile society. They change jobs frequently. They live in many different parts of the country during their lifetime. They take many vacations. They marry, divorce and remarry again. They travel frequently in their jobs. Simply put, they move around quite a lot. They are very comfortable with this lifestyle. It is the same lifestyle practiced by many veteran RVers.

As I surveyed the various campgrounds we visited, it became obvious that the majority of so-called campers were actually touring -- just like us. They were at a site or location for a few days and then would move on. They moved. We moved. They came and left. We came and left. We were touring, not camping.

As the industry continues to expand, it is imperative that we find some way to win these future generations over to the RV lifestyle. Touring may be the answer.

One manufacturer has incorporated the word touring into their product description. They are marketing their RV as a touring sedan. What a great idea! Did they also see a problem with the word camping as it applies to an entire segment of the population that does not consider themselves to be campers?

They may not be campers, but they are certainly great prospects to become tourists in a recreational vehicle that provides them all the comforts of home while touring on the road.

Another intriguing part of our conversations would lead to our ability to visit multiple locations on a single vacation. One of the most popular forms of vacation travel today is the cruise ship -- it is also one of the fastest growing vacation industries. Cruise lines are building bigger, faster and more luxurious ships to accommodate the demand for this vacation alternative.

This is our competition.

People select cruise ship vacations for many of the same reasons that they would select an RV touring vacation -- if they understood what our industry has to offer. Many of the people opting for a cruise ship vacation are the same age bracket that the RV industry must go after if they are to be successful in bringing new users to the RV lifestyle.

A cruise ship vacation is very nice, but it's a one-time experience. Purchase an RV, and you can have a touring vacation every weekend and several longer journeys throughout the year.

Back to the multiple location theory of travel. Many cruise ships visit several locations on the trip. So do we. It's one of the benefits we have always had with a recreational vehicle. If this is why people are taking cruises, then let's go after the same market. Let's market the RV lifestyle as a long-term investment of the recreation dollars they might want to spend and introduce them to our touring concept.

As I write this article, I am sitting under the shade of a large oak tree in an outstanding KOA Kampground just outside the Opryland Hotel, on Music Valley Drive. I'll bet we are having a lot more fun and relaxation then the folks just down the road in a row of look-alike motels.

I can sip my Starbucks™ coffee, enjoy the early morning breeze, and prepare my breakfast when I'm ready. There won't be any long lines at the hotel restaurant for us. We won't be looking at the four walls that look just like the room I stayed in on my last business trip.

This is touring. This is what the industry has to offer. Let's bring it to the masses and get them out of the hotels and off the cruise ships.

Educate them on the RV lifestyle. Get them to make an investment in touring, and enjoy the benefits for years to come.

Enough work for one morning -- I'm going back to my touring vacation. We are off to the blue hills of Kentucky as we turn the corner and head back to Boston. But we have another five days of touring before we get there.

Good luck and good selling.

RVN