Go RVing said in-person events and experiences’ popularity is an industry trend to watch.
The RV industry’s marketing coalition said a larger, industries-wide paradigm shift is at hand. Go RVing said business and consumer attendees are increasingly seeking out creature comforts and opportunities for escapism to help combat the world’s uncertain state.
Go RVing said the RV industry can participate in this trend in several ways.
Brand rallies have traditionally been popular events among RV consumers. Rallies can be organized for brand owners or for specific RV models. Go RVing said these events foster peer-to-peer troubleshooting and long-term brand loyalty.
Another way to create in-person events is to host a pop-up experiential event at a music festival, state fair or similar event. Attendees can experience an RV’s comfort, using features such as the air conditioning, heat, private bathrooms and refrigerator storing cold drinks, during a high-energy event. Go RVing has created several experiential events annually over the past decade.
RV consumer shows are popular in-person events happening nationwide now and in the coming months. Go RVing said the consumer shows enable consumers to touch and feel the RVs.
Go RVing said manufacturers and dealers could also consider creating voluntourism events, such as a clean-up day at a local park. Go RVing said working toward a shared cause creates emotional ties between the brand and consumers’ values.
Go RVing said consumers are seeking out engaging, authentic experiences in their offline lives after years of digital overload. When a consumer steps into an activation, a festival or a pop-up event, they are testing whether a brand’s promise holds up in real life.
Marketing experience company Quad described the shift as the return of touch, highlighting a renewed appetite for physical, tactile brand experiences.
In Quad’s “Return of Touch” report, a survey of 2,068 U.S. adults Found 86% of Gen Z and millennial consumers reported that touching and feeling products were essential to their purchase decisions. Similarly, 79% of consumers stated that online shopping lacks the “magic” of an in-person find, and 71% stated that online shopping experiences blur together.
Additionally, in 2025, 74% of Fortune 1000 brands planned to increase their experiential budgets.
Similarly, in the 2026 Pinterest Predicts trends report, the social media platform named “emotional comfort and belonging” among the key overarching themes from its study. The study found comfort is consumers’ primary emotional crutch, with 55% of global respondents prioritizing it as a need in their daily lives.
