Attendance was down but sales were up, the FRVTA's Dave Kelly said.The Florida RV Trade Association (FRVTA) just completed its fall RV show season with three events.
The Jacksonville Fall RV Show was held at the Jacksonville Equestrian Center, the Tampa Bay Fall RV Show held at the Florida State Fairgrounds, and the West Palm Beach Fall RV Show held at the South Florida Fairgrounds. All three events reported very strong attendance.
The Jacksonville Fall RV Show kicked off the season Oct. 5-8. This was the first time the fall show was held at the Equestrian Center and more than 5,000 people attended, show coordinators said. The Tampa Bay Fall RV Show was up more than 500 people from last year’s show with close to 7,300 people attending. The West Palm Show held the same weekend also reported good attendance with close to 2,500 attending. This show hasn’t taken place the past three years due to COVID, inventory issues and Hurricane Nichol.
“The people I talked to at the Tampa Bay Show were optimistic and most of them said they were planning to buy within the next couple of years,” said FRVTA Show Coordinator Patty Flanagan. “Many of them will be attending other shows around that state so the optimism should continue well into our winter events.”
Many sales were registered by both dealers and vendors alike, as attendance was up quite a bit over last year’s fall shows, she said. Campgrounds around the state are reportedly seeing “snowbirds” a little earlier this year. With the winter selling season just around the corner, all of these are welcome signs of great things to come, FRVTA said.
The FRVTA winter show schedule kicks off with the 2024 Florida RV SuperShow on Jan. 16 (industry day) or Jan. 17-21 (public days). That will be followed by shows in Ft. Myers, Kissimmee, Jacksonville, West Palm Beach and Ocala.
For more information about the FRVTA winter shows or exhibitor information, click here.
