The latest look at outdoor recreation’s economic impact showed a 1.4 percent increase in gross output in 2019 to more than $787 billion.
The increase comes after a 2.3 percent increase from 2017 to 2018. However, the booming year in outdoor recreation since the pandemic took hold in 2020 could mean even stronger results when the Bureau of Economic Analysis releases data next year.
Or maybe it will not, industry experts said.
“I think it’s a really difficult question to answer,” former RVIA President Frank Hugelmeyer said. “You had two months of shutdowns, which was very disruptive. At least in the boating and fishing industries, you’re seeing significant retail growth and activity growth. So that’s almost certain to grow in 2020 during Covid. The challenge right now in being able to give an accurate answer is the manufacturing side, the supply chain disruptions, are still ongoing.”
Hugelmeyer, who left RVIA to become the president of the National Marine Manufacturers Association last year, said the pandemic’s effects have been felt throughout the outdoor recreation sectors.
“In the boating industry we have a 10 percent increase in retail sales. We seeing a 20 percent down in manufacturing output because of disruptions and shutdowns in different sectors, as well as supply chain shortages,” Hugelmeyer said. “That’s not just boating, that across RVs, that’s across other motorized sectors. So it’s going to be very difficult to see where that’s going to balance out.”
The first-time camper influx this year would suggest stronger participation figures, said Paul Bambei, president and CEO of the National Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds.
“The curiosity factor in the campground industry is working very much in our favor,” he said. “Many of those folks are experimenting behind the wheel of an RV, or generally camping for the first time in their lives. As the unpredictability of Covid will be hanging in the air for many months, it’s a positive thing that our industry is in the fresh outdoors. It seems like one of those things that is intuitively understood, but until you get out there and do it, you really don’t know what you’re missing.”
The question, Outdoor Industry Association Executive Director Lise Aangeenbrug said, is whether consumers have created a habit.
“For many of the businesses I represent, when I speak to them about the end of the second quarter or the third quarter, some of them had their best quarter ever, some had their best quarter in five years,” she said. “One of the really interesting things about this is, with the supply chain issues we’re running out of equipment, people are willing to try something new. If they went to go buy a canoe and that wasn’t available, they got for a paddleboard. What we’re seeing for winter sports is, if something isn’t available, people will try snowshoeing for the first time.
“I think what we’re going to find in 2020 is that people wanted to get outside, no matter what – willing to try new activities, willing to experiment,” Aangeenbrug said. “We hope that becomes a long-term habit.”
