by Kathleen McLaughlin (The Bulletin)

For the first time, the federal government and private industry have a picture of the outdoor industry’s contribution to the national economy, and it has been growing quickly.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis announced Wednesday that outdoor recreation accounted for $373.7 billion of gross domestic product in 2016, and that it grew 3.8 percent, compared with 2.8-percent growth in the overall economy.

Outdoor recreation was already counted in the GDP, but its many components are hidden in various industries. Recreational vehicle sales, for example, were counted along with other motor vehicle sales, and RV manufacturing was with other transportation equipment. The BEA’s new outdoor recreation satellite account pulls figures from throughout the economy, similar to the way travel and tourism is measured.

And RV use is a big source of economic activity, the BEA found. Activity around motorized vehicles was the single-largest category, accounting for $59.4 billion of gross output in 2016. RVs accounted for more than half that value at $30 billion.

“We’re on par with golf, just nobody knows we’re here,” said Bradley Waring, executive director of the Oregon RV Alliance in Junction City. There are 175 RV campgrounds in Oregon, he said. Winnebago is producing high-end models in Junction City, the company’s first manufacturing plant outside of Iowa, he said. Places like the Deschutes County Expo RV Park host rallies that draw hundreds of people.

The RV’s role in the outdoor economy is striking given the way the industry collapsed during the Great Recession, Waring said. Big Country RV, a dealership with locations in Redmond and Bend, has been steadily growing sales since 2009, general manager John Younger said. The Bend store saw record sales in 2016 and sold even more brand-new RVs last year, he said.

{ 0 comments }

via Bureau of Economic Analysis (US Dept of Commerce)

Prototype statistics from the Outdoor Recreation Satellite Account (ORSA) released by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) show that the outdoor recreation economy accounted for 2.0 percent ($373.7 billion) of current-dollar GDP in 2016. In addition, the outdoor recreation economy grew 3.8 percent in 2016, compared to growth of 2.8 percent in the overall economy.

“Businesses need the right data to help them hire, invest and grow. The historical lack of detailed federal data regarding outdoor recreational activities has handicapped both the private and public sectors. The public will no doubt be surprised at the economic importance of this industry as we release prototype statistics measuring the impact of activities like boating, fishing, RVing, hunting, camping, hiking, and more. This release is a milestone for business executives, small-business owners, entrepreneurs, and government officials, who will rely on these detailed data to plan, grow, and gain new insights into this dynamic part of the U.S. economy,” said U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.

The new account is the latest addition in a series of satellite accounts complementing BEA’s statistics, including accounts on travel and tourism and arts and cultural production. These accounts do not change BEA’s official statistics, including GDP. They provide greater detail and allow closer analysis of a specific area of the economy by extracting information embedded in the official economic statistics.

{ 0 comments }

State Parks contribute more than $1Billion to Oregon economy

December 13, 2017

via Spencer Guimont @ KEZI.com A new report shows the positive financial impact that Oregon parks has on the state’s economy.  The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department says that $1.1 billion was added to the state’s economy in 2016 because of park activity. Officials also found that parks supported 16,000 full-time jobs across the state, equating to […]

Read the full article →

New RV Camp Breaks Ground in Coos Bay, OR

December 9, 2017

via RVBusiness.com A building team, led by R&A Architecture + Design, has broken ground on The Camps at Coos Bay Lagoon, an RV camp and cabins park encompassing 103 acres along Camp Arago Highway in the Barview area of coastal Coos Bay, Ore. According to Building Design and Construction, the project — which was designed […]

Read the full article →

RV boom driven by low interest rates, gas prices & wanderlust

December 7, 2017

via Dean Reynolds @ CBSNews.com Americans are hitting the road in recreational vehicles (RVs). Sales this year top half a million units — the highest in nearly four decades. Part of northern Indiana is the birthplace for 85 percent of all the motor coaches in this country. And they can’t seem to build them fast enough.  […]

Read the full article →

U.S. RV shipments keeps rolling

November 29, 2017

via Timothy Aeppel @ Reuters.com The boom in U.S. recreational vehicle sales keeps on rolling, thanks to a strong economy and a wave of retiring Baby Boomers and others filled with wanderlust. Shipments of RVs in 2017 are expected to hit their highest in nearly four decades, according to data from the Recreation Vehicle Industry […]

Read the full article →

Spotlight – RCV Custom Coach Service

November 21, 2017

The RV industry is family-oriented, both in its approach towards customers and in the structure of many businesses that focus on the industry. That’s certainly true at RCV Custom Coach Service in Junction City, where owner Bob Vinson has operated his family-run business for the past six years. Bob started working with RVs at Country […]

Read the full article →

Premier RV of Oregon moves past fire

November 15, 2017

via RVBusiness.com A serious fire at Premier RV Services in Junction City, Ore., the morning of Nov. 6 that caused an estimated $8 million in damage was contained by multiple fire departments on the scene that day to a single 65,000 square-foot storage facility – a fact about which former co-founders Louie Courtemanche and Gary […]

Read the full article →

Go RVing Scores During MLB Game 7

November 3, 2017

via RVBusiness.com The Go RVing Coalition scored a key prime-time media placement Wednesday night (Nov. 1) as the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA) secured an ad spot that ran during Game 7 of the World Series pitting the Houston Astros against the Los Angeles Dodgers.  

Read the full article →

September Shipments Retain Record Pace

October 26, 2017

via RVIA The Recreation Vehicle Industry Association’s (RVIA) September survey of manufacturers found RV wholesale shipments finished at 43,598 units, an increase of 29.4% over the 33,704 units shipped last September. September 2017 shipments are the best September on comparable record. RV wholesale shipments have climbed to 378,006 units through nine months of 2017, up […]

Read the full article →