MARVAC Pleased with Inaugural ‘Campground Vendor Showcase’ – RVBusiness – Breaking RV Industry News
NOVI, Mich. – Although the weather was snowy outside, park owners in the Mitten State found their way on Tuesday to the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi, Mich., to attend the first-ever Campground Vendor Showcase hosted by the Michigan Association of Recreation Vehicles and Campgrounds (MARVAC).
The brainchild of Maris Brennan, MARVAC’s membership director, the showcase featured 13 vendors and had over 40 registered park owners. Brennan was quick to point out to Woodall’s Campground Magazine (WCM), a sister publication of RVBusiness, that the entire MARVAC team played a role in putting this event on the day before the opening of the 58th Annual Detroit RV and Camping Show.
John Lindley, president and CEO of MARVAC, was so impressed by the turnout that he told attendees during an association update segment that the event was definitely going to take place again next year.
The showcase was designed to help park owners connect with each, have a chance to peruse vendor booths and get an update on the association and the industry in general.
Lindley noted that MARVAC’s website attracts over 24,000 users a month and that the association produces a variety of RV/camping shows, works with various organizations and pushes for more marketing funding to help its member parks get exposure.
“Our presence in Lansing is a huge piece of what we do as an association,” he said.
Lindley highlighted a recent alliance that MARVAC is putting together with other outdoor recreation stakeholders in the state to push for more funding for the Pure Michigan campaign.
“That campaign has been extremely successful and it needs more funding to tout all that the state has to offer on the recreation side,” he explained.
Other issues the association is focused on include keeping the traditional school start time after Labor Day and a groundwater discharge permit issue which is doubling fees for some parks.
In another session, Scott Bahr, from Cairn Consulting Group, dove deep into key industry stats and tailored his message to the Great Lakes State.
He said that camping incidents as a whole was down some in 2023 when compared to 2022, but that he expects things to hold steady moving forward.
“We just have to work a little more as an industry to retain campers,” Bahr explained. “We are amid a reset and recent results suggest a drop-off among younger campers. Recent trends show certain segments are not as committed to continuing to camp.”
Some of the barriers to camping include the trend of more people are taking other types of vacations now that the COVID pandemic has passed. Financial reasons, concerns over safety and security, the cost of camping and the need for more and better information are all also barriers, he mentioned.
He noted that in Michigan campers are:
- More likely to reside in suburban areas (32%) compared to campers nationally (22%).
- Slightly older, and more likely to be married/living with a significant other.
- Solidly in the middle-class household income (45% have an income of $75,000-plus.)
- Ethnically similar to the overall set of campers (35% are non-white guests).
In another segment, Bahr noted that campers in Michigan differ from other regions in these areas:
- Only 32% stay within 50 miles of home (versus 41% of other campers).
- More likely to be impacted by economic factors (83% vs. 68%).
- More likely to be lifelong campers (30% vs. 24%)
- Index slightly higher in tent usage (55% vs. 52%)
Bahr also tackled how park owners can work to attract campers and focused on the types of amenities that campers are looking for, including a continued increase in the use of cabins and other glamping accommodations.
The event wrapped up with a cocktail hour.
To learn more about MARVAC, click here.
