'Still going': Some RVers say high gasoline prices could keep them closer to home
With gasoline prices hitting all-time highs, Jeff Redmond says he's planning to stay closer to home when RV camping this summer.
The owner and general manager of Bucars RV Centre in Balzac, Alta., says recreational vehicles are still one of the most affordable ways to travel as a couple or with a family once hotels, gasoline prices or airline costs are factored in.
"We laugh that RVers are the ones that are winning," Redmond said in an interview this week.
The cost of gasoline declined slightly before this May long weekend, the unofficial kickoff to summer camping season, but analysts say summer demand in coming weeks has the potential to send prices even higher.
Redmond said that could influence where he travels this year.
"The Okanagan Valley is a place I like to go ... and that's a seven-hour drive, so maybe I am going to go to Pigeon Lake or Gull Lake (Alberta), which is an hour-and-a-half drive," he said. "The good news is that I am still going.
"We're able to alter our plans and to work within our budget."
Redmond said he has heard a similar sentiment from customers. Some are staying closer to home. Others are planning to stay longer at one campsite.
"You park the larger trailer at a permanent campsite, or at your friend's cottage, or at the old family farm, or at a winery in the Okanagan — and you don't tow it," he said.
"You hop in your family car and you go back and forth. You have a built-in, very affordable ... off-the-grid cabin that is extremely efficient once you get there.
"Lots of people are no longer towing."
Rob Minarchi is vice-president of sales at ArrKann Trailer & R.V. Centre with outlets across Alberta. He said there's been a lot of demand for RVs since the start of the pandemic and it hasn't slowed down this year.
"Most (people) are upgrading, as crazy as that sounds," he said from Edmonton. "Some people are selling ... because circumstances have changed but, for the most part, they are just trading in for different units.
"There's a lot of new RVers who came to the market when COVID first hit ... but they didn't know exactly what they wanted."
Those customers, he said, are trading in for units that better suit their needs.
Minarchi said he hasn't heard about anyone getting rid of an RV due to high gas prices.
"What we're seeing is a lot of people are just camping a little closer," he said. "If they were going to do a five-hour trip, now they are going to do a one-hour trip ... I think it actually ties in a little bit with COVID and staying close to home.
"They found so many hidden gems locally ... in the last couple of years that they are OK to do that."
Some campgrounds are starting to notice some changes.
"I've had a few people cancel," said Scott Kast, owner of Tomahawk R.V. at Lake of the Woods in Ontario.
But, he said, gas prices are a minor factor in those cancellations.
"We do get a lot of Americans here. One thing holding people back is vaccine mandates," said Kast.
Another campground manager told CKPG radio station in Prince George, B.C., that some people travelling from farther away have cancelled.
"A lot of people are wanting to stay local," said Bobbie Carpino, who runs the Salmon Valley campground.
"We've seen cancellations from folks coming in from the States heading up to Alaska, as well as folks coming in from the Lower Mainland."
The price of fuel could add $100 or $200 to the cost of an average camping trip, Minarchi said.
"It feels like a lot when you are at the pump but ... it's still affordable to do it," he said. "One less restaurant that you eat out at pays for the difference in your fuel for the whole camping trip."
Some RVers, he said, are adding solar panels and buying generators to make it easier to camp off the grid — including on Crown land. Others are parking their RVs at permanent sites for the entire summer.
"They are still camping, so that's good."
Redmond said the pandemic encouraged many people to get outdoors in their RVs, on a mountain bike or with a set of golf clubs.
"I am a guy that went and bought a new bicycle and there's no way I'm selling my bike. It's been awesome to get on the trails and get reintroduced to that," he said.
"There (are) lots of people, their lives got in the way of our great outdoors. They are stepping back now and saying, 'Wow, that was great' and they are going to keep doing it."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 21, 2022
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.