Manitoba RV sales are up from last year, despite high gas prices

With gas prices expected to continue rising as we inch towards the summer, some families are reconsidering travel plans in favour of a staycation.

But plenty of others are loading up on a brand new RV.

“We have been up in sales 13 per cent from the previous season,” said Mirah Duarte, a sales representative at Four Season’s in Headingley.

That in itself is a surprising jump in the number of Manitobans purchasing an RV compared to the last two summers during the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’re definitely more prepared this year than we were in 2020 with the mass amount of people wanting brand new campers,” said Duarte.

Some customers at Four Seasons told Global News their hunger for camping has grown even more since the beginning of the pandemic.

Duarte says the result is hundreds of Manitobans upgrading RV’s they bought for the first time over the past two years.

With gas prices expected to soar closer towards two dollars this summer, adjustments are being made by prospective owners.

“Typical customers that would have 28-foot units with bigger slide outs are now just trying to find the exact same functionality in smaller, lighter campers.”

Despite high prices at the pump, GNR Camping World in Transcona is noticing a similar spike in interest surrounding campers and RVs.

“What we’re finding is a great combination all the way around, from young families starting out, wanting to get into this lifestyle because maybe they grew up with it with their parents, or we’re getting the baby boomers, they’re retiring and selling property and getting into it that way and camping locally,” explained one of Camping World’s RV specialists, Trevor Olynyk.

Whether you’re staying in Manitoba or going elsewhere, Olynyk says you better book a campsite quickly.

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