Dealer Attendance Sets Record at Louisville Show

Riding a twenty-year high in demand for new RV's, retailers turned out in record numbers to stock up for their 1999 selling season at RVIA's 36th Annual National RV Trade Show in Louisville, KY.

The three day show attracted the highest dealer attendance in the event's 36 year history -- 4,816, up 5 percent over 1997. Attendance in all "customer categories" -- dealers, accessory store owners, campground operators and warehouse distributors -- outpaced last year's total by 5.5 percent to 5,421, constituting almost half (46 percent) of all 11,726 attendees.

Also, this was the largest National RV Trade Show ever, packing the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center (KFEC) with nearly 700,000 square feet of exhibit space, drawing 83 manufacturer and 294 supplier exhibitors.

Exhibitors and dealers on hand at the show were in agreement that the industry will continue to thrive in 1999, based on turnout and sales.

Jim Baxter, vice president of marketing for Coachman Industries, said "We were very encouraged by the extremely upbeat mood of the dealers at the show. Sales for our division were all up and each of our companies signed more new dealers than last year." We saw lots of activity all three days of the show and we expect another good year.

Dave Wilbert, group marketing manager for Fleetwood Enterprises, Inc. echoed that sentiment.  He said, "We  were very pleased with the show. It was well attended, and based on the strong orders we received, we're excited about the 1999 selling season."

Gary Conley, national sales manager for Lance Camper Mfg. Corp., said, "We inked seven new dealers at the show and five more are waiting in the wings,"

Summing up the prevailing mood of dealers, Steve Richardson, president of Richardson's RV Center, said, "Everything went terrific. We didn't have any leftover inventory from last year, so we came ready to buy."

Supplier exhibitors enjoyed brisk business at their booths as well. Dan Holt, publisher of RV News and CEO of RV America On Line^®, said he could personally vouch for the show's success. "It was absolutely fabulous. I cannot recall in recent years anything that even approached the enthusiasm we observed by dealers at this year's show. Traffic at the RV America booth was virtually non-stop. We substantially grew our client base with dealers that signed up for web sites, but since we returned from the show, the phone has hardly stopped ringing. Prospects that didn't sign up at the show have made decisions and want RV America to host their Internet sites."

The RVIA show has set the foundation for another record-breaking year.

RVN