Roadtreking.com expands as RV Industry experiences huge boom from Baby Boomers

Here's a news release that has gone out announcing big news at Roadtreking.com:

NEWS RELEASE

June 5, 2013

MOTORHOME TRAVEL SITE EXPANDS AS RV INDUSTRY EXPERIENCES HUGE SALES BOOM FROM BABY BOOMERS

“This generation of new retirees very unique. They are healthier and more active than their predecessors and they are fueling a resurgence of the entire RV industry. Demand is going through through the roof.” – Mike Wendland, Roadtreking.com 

The President of Roadtrek Motorhomes, the best selling Class B motorhome manufacturer in North America, is among a trio of new high profile guest bloggers on Roadtreking.com, a travel blog celebrating the lifestyle made possible by small, campervan-styled recreational vehicles. (NOTE TO BLOG READERS: To see the new guest bloggers, look above on the menubar. Put your cursor on the “Guest Bloggers” tab and pick the ones you want to read. Or look below under this section for links to the latest posts.)

Started by veteran journalist Mike Wendland over a year ago, Roadtreking.com is dedicated to discovering interesting people and places across North America and features travel information that concentrates on the fun and adventure of RVing in Class B motorhomes, one of the fastest-selling types of recreational vehicles in the booming RV industry.

This week, Wendland has announced the addition of three new contributors to the online magazine.

Among them is Jim Hammill, Roadtrek’s President, who will be sharing his insights and innovative ideas on how to enhance the Roadtreking experience.

“Jim is very unique among business leaders in the RV industry,” said Wendland. “He’s a very hands-on, open door kind of guy who delights in getting to know his customers. He loves to talk the RV lifestyle and when I thought about adding some special guest bloggers, he was at the top if my list.”

Two other guest bloggers have joined Wendand’s online publication. They are:

• Campskunk – A RVer who, with his wife and cat, Fiona, lives and travels fulltime in their Class B motorhome.  Campskunk took early retirement from a prominent government job which involved the forensic evaluation and sometimes the subsequent detention of some not-so-nice people, He uses the moniker “Campskunk” instead of his legal name on the Internet. “Mine was not the type of job where customer service feedback would be welcome,” he says. In addition to his work in the public sector, he has also at various times been a mechanic and delivery driver, skills that come in handy in his new as a full timing RVer.

  

• Laura Robinson – Laura is a professional photographer and owner of a 2011 RS Adventurous motorhome. “I love to travel, whether in my home state of Missouri, whichis quite beautiful, or around the globe,” she says. “I have been blessed by a monk at the top of the Himalayas in Bhutan, eaten lamb lung in Tibet and crickets in Mexico. I scuba dive, sail and canoe. But I have always wanted to drive around my own country, with no plans and by backroads.  I love a good hotel, but I like to have my stuff with me, my dog- Ruka and sometimes even friends! I am all about not having to make reservations or worrying about bed bugs.”

 

Wendland himself, with wife, Jennifer, updates the blog daily with video and printed reports, as well as photos. In his long journalism career, he has won 18 EMMY awards, been a syndicated newspaper columnist, a technology correspondent for NBC Television stations and is the official on-the-road reporter for the Family Motor Coach Association, the largest organization of motorhome users in the world. He also writes a monthly column on RVing for Family Motor Coach Magazine.

The RV industry is flourishing again as early baby boomers reach retirement age. Wendland says the new generation of RVers is different than previous ones.

Some 8.9 million U.S. households — or 8.5 percent of all American households – now own RVs. The number of recreational vehicles delivered to dealer lots is expected to reach a six-year high in 2013, according to the Virginia-based Recreation Vehicle Industry Association. Last year marked the third year of increases from a recessionary bottom that saw sales fall to the lowest levels since at least the 1970's.

“This generation of new retirees is very unique,” Wendland notes. “They are healthier and more active than their predecessors and they are fueling a resurgence of the entire RV industry. Demand is going through through the roof.”

Class B motorhomes are typically between 20 and 25 feet long and built on either the Mercedes Sprinter chassis or on van bodies built by Ford or Chevrolet. They come with luxurious custom designed interiors, innovative technologies and all the amenities of home, including king sized beds, hot and cold running water, bathrooms, showers, full kitchens and refrigerators.

Wendland’s RV, an environmentally-friendly 2012 Roadtrek eTrek, has solar power and a super quiet engine generator that allows him to be fully contained and powered in the middle of the wilderness, far off the grid.

He’s spent the night in it under all srts of conditions – from 90 degree Florida heat cooled off inside by the unit’s air conditioner, to last winter in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula when he and Jennifer were comfortable thanks to the heater when it was 8 degrees below zero.

“The Class B sector of the RV market is a big part of the industry’s booming sales,” he said. “These small motorhomes can go pretty much everywhere and have great fuel economy. They are easy to handle and are extremely luxurious and comfortable inside. That’s why a lot of people say spending the night in one isn’t camping. It’s glamping.”

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