RV dealers in Calgary say that even though we’ve gone through a rough patch economically the past few years, sales have still been brisk in the industry.

Many gathered at the RV Show at the BMO Centre over the weekend, where some of the latest and greatest models were on display.

They say that family vacationing in an RV is often the better choice over a long flight to an international destination.

“For a family of four, you’re a lot better to invest in an RV for over a period of time versus going on a trip to Florida, Hawaii or Mexico and that’s only a one-off,” says show manager Dan Merkowsky. “Our industry provides a lifestyle and a chance for a family to get together for a long, long time.”

When it comes to the comparison with last year’s show, Merkowsky says they’re likely to come up short this time, but it’s no surprise.

“At 6.9 percent unemployment in Alberta at this point in time, people are talking and they’re afraid because they lost their jobs. From our perspective, we see a decrease in our industry every eight years and this is the eighth year, so it’s expected but not that we haven’t planned for it.”

Neil Friedenberg with Arrkann Trailer says there are always highs and lows in the RV sales industry and it’s up to them to anticipate how the market will go.

“We’re a company who’s been in business since 1977 and [we’ve] found over the years that customers don’t want to sacrifice camping with their families and they’ll always want to have a trailer and use it time after time.”

Attendance has been down at the show, Friedenberg says, but that doesn’t mean that the people who attend aren’t any less interested in buying a trailer.

“We’ve featured a lot of the new 2019s and a lot of the new features on the trailers. Ultimately, the people that come here are interested in owning and going camping.”

Shelagh Barns attended the show on Sunday to get some ideas on how to renovate her family’s unit. She says having an RV provides them with an easy vacation and simple route to get away from the 9 to 5.

“We’ve got a great big country with lots of beautiful places to check out, so it’s a good outlet to be able to check that stuff out.”

Organizers say they were expecting about 25,000 visitors in this year’s RV Show, but estimates are more likely to come in around the 20,000 mark.

There are about 13,000 new RVs sold in Alberta every year and that’s more than any other province in Canada.

(With files from Ina Sidhu)