Lane County's RV industry sees an increase of 20% in 2020
JUNCTION CITY, Ore. — The pandemic has of course been hard on most businesses, but one Lane County industry is booming.
Lane County has long been a center for the RV industry.
"We've been here 50 years, and the RV industry took a real leap in this area in the 70s with local manufacturing -- still going on today," said Shannon Nill, the president of Guaranty RV centers.
At the start of the pandemic, local companies were uncertain.
"There were concerns, we didn't know what travel was gonna look like," said Steve Irvin, the COO of Marathon Coach. "We didn't know if there'd be travel restrictions state to state."
Turns out that travel trends in 2020 were on the industry's side.
Thanks to the pandemic, traditional vacations like a trip to Disneyland are off the table. But now more and more people are hitting the road in vehicles like RVs and camper vans.
"You're able to shelter in place but still be able to move around the country and see different things, and this is a great way to work remotely," Irvin said.
Another surprising source of business? Last year's wildfires.
Nill says many who lost homes up the McKenzie bought RV's for temporary housing on their properties.
"That way they can guard what's left, begin the rebuilding, and have a safe place for now," Nill said.
Both Marathon and Guaranty say they saw sales increase 20% last year.
That trend is expected to continue through 2021, and manufacturers hope even after the pandemic.
"The trend was already growing in RVs, now we have a whole bunch of new folks that have tried them out," Nill said.
Nill anticipates more RV parks popping up to accommodate the increase in sales.
He thinks even when the pandemic is over, the trend away from traditional vacations will continue.
