The Florida RV Trade Association (FRVTA) has completed its fall RV show season with three events scheduled. One show, the Panhandle RV Show scheduled for Oct. 18-21, was cancelled due to the damage left by Hurricane Michael. All three other events reported close to record-breaking attendance, according to FRVTA.
The Jacksonville Fall RV Show, the first year of this show, kicked off the season Oct. 11-14 at the Morocco Shrine Auditorium in Jacksonville. More than 4,600 people attended the four days of the show. The show was moved from St. Johns County due to having been cancelled the last two years due to hurricane damage.
“We had to find a new venue and also one closer to the city,” said FRVTA Region 6 President Ken Loyd. “To draw this size crowd for a first-year show is wonderful, we are looking forward to building this show in the future.”
Next up were the Tampa Bay Fall and the W. Palm Beach Fall RV Shows held on the same weekend, Nov. 8-11. Unusually hot weather at both venues caused a slight downturn in attendance at both events. The Tampa Bay Show still drew close to 7,800 people and the W. Palm Show drew more than 4,400. It was reported that the people attending were very optimistic about purchasing new and used RVs.
“Our dealers reported good to excellent sales at all three fall shows,” stated FRVTA Executive Director Lance Wilson, “we are excited about the upcoming SuperShow and winter shows based on the results of our fall shows.”
“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 Regional Show Coordinator Patty Flanagan. “Many of them will be attending other shows around the state so the optimism should continue well into our winter events.”
The FRVTA winter show schedule kicks off with the 2019 Florida RV SuperShow, Jan. 15 (Industry Day), Jan. 16-20 (Public Days). That will be followed by shows in Fort Myers, Jacksonville, West Palm Beach and Ocala.