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SERVING CANADA’S RV INDUSTRY SINCE 1971 268 - 44 Crawford Cres., Campbellville, ON L0P 1B0 Publications Mail Agreement #43638025 CANADA’S FOREMOST RV INDUSTRY MAGAZINE Using the Power of Data to Understand RV Stats TM TM TM TM SPECIAL NTP-STAG SEAWIDE EXPO CANADIAN RV DEALER OF THE YEAR Canadian RVDA Updates CRVA Update New for 2024 JASON FRIESEN Voyager RV VOL 53 NO 1powersportslink.ca 204 – 3485 Rebecca St Oakville, Ontario sales@powersportslink.net (888) 706-7076 (877) 202-7099 YOUR PARTNER FOR SUCCESS Turning Declines Into Dollars! Powersports Link Financing successfully secured approvals for previously declined RV, Park Model, and tiny home applications handled by other Finance Brokers in Ontario. Through our second-look process, we achieved an impressive 88% approval ratio with a 68% closing rate, and 55% of these closed deals were with banks to which their current broker provider had access. Curious about our winning formula? Call/E-mail us at: 888-706-7076/resortcottages@powersportslink.net and let's discuss how Powersports Link Financing can elevate your business. In 2023, Powersports Link Financing Saved RV/Park Model Dealers Over $5,000,000 in Revenue. 3 Volume 53 Number 1 | RV Lifestyle Dealer News contents 30 14 38 COVER STORY: Jason Friesen – Canadian RV Dealer of the Year Leading the industry to new levels of community involvement. IN THIS ISSUE: 6 Marketing – A Special Report from Nick Farnell Using the Power of Data to Understand RV Sales Stats 11 Digital Dynamics – Enhancing the RV Customer Journey A Special Feature by Tom Holt, Chief Digital Officer, Rogue Digital. 14 Jason Friesen – Canadian RV Dealer of the Year. An in-depth interview with the leader of BC’s Voyager RV team. 23 Industry News Truma’s Hundsberger takes on an additional role for Geratetechnik GmbH & Co. KG. INDUSTRY UPDATES: 24 RVDA of Canada Update 25 Fleming College Trade and Technology and Motive Power Technician Programs 26 ACVRQ Update 28 ORVDA Update 29 CSA Z240 RV Series Standard Update 30 Jayco “Blue Excellence” Supplier Awards 32 Soaring Eagle is Flying High – Ready to Expand Canadian Dealer Network 34 THOR Motor Coach 2024 Diesel RVs and Toy Hauler 36 Winnebago Kicks Off 2024 with Customer- Driven Lineup REPORTS: 38 NTP-Stag SeaWide Expo – a Resounding Success! 44 New Products 46 RV Shows and Events – Canada and USA Looking for late-breaking news of interest to the Canadian RV industry? Check out the RV Dealer News website – www.rvldealernews.com Contentspub page.indd 3Contentspub page.indd 32024-03-18 4:24 PM2024-03-18 4:24 PM4 RV Lifestyle Dealer News | Volume 53 Number 1 TM TM TM TM RV Dealer NEWS CANADA’S FOREMOST RV INDUSTRY MAGAZINE AD PUBLISHERS MESSAGE A Season of Opportunities… As we roll into another season of RV excitement, it’s time to shake off the stigmas of the pandemic and get business back into high gear. We have just concluded a series of very successful RV shows across Canada, with record attendance and strong sales reported from every venue. This augers well for the coming RV and camping season, with a strong resurgence in consumer activity across the board, plus an excellent opportunity for RV service and upgrades to our customer’s existing vehicles. On the consumer side, our RV Lifestyle Magazine print editions have set records for subscription sales, and the website at www.rvlifemag.com has gone from an average of 2.2 million page views per month to more than 3 million page views per month for the first quarter of 2024. It’s a trend that promises excellent results for the Spring and Summer of 2024, and RV Dealer News is proud to lead the way as Canada’s voice for the RV industry since 1971. In this issue, we have the pleasure of chatting with the 2023 Canadian RV Dealer of the Year, Jason Friesen, of Voyager RV, Winfield BC. Jason and his team have set a very high standard of excellence for their community involvement, their contributions to the RV industry through RVDA of BC and RVDA of Canada activities, and for the many ways they convey the spirit of the RV industry to their customers and the industry at large. As we embark on an era of new challenges, with EV and hybrid technology growing across North America, it is fascinating to see how responsive the RV and camping industry has been to the implementation of new technologies, adapting to the changing needs of our customers, and sowing the seeds for a strong future across the spectrum of RV and related activities. Let’s forge new paths forward and celebrate the many achievements of the Canadian RV and camping industry, as we provide the finest in family vacation alternatives to millions of new and existing customers across the country! Bill Taylor, Publisher VOLUME 53 NUMBER 1 Publisher William E. Taylor Associate Publisher Melanie Taylor-Wallis V.P. Special Projects/Editorial Director Norm Rosen Technical Director Garth Cane Production Coordinator Giselle Bansal ADVERTISING SALES Norm Rosen Melanie Taylor-Wallis Todd Taylor ADMINISTRATION William E. Taylor President Melanie Taylor-Wallis Group Publisher Norman Rosen VP/Special Projects Nancy Mueller Accounting EXECUTIVE OFFICES Toronto: 268 - 44 Crawford Crescent., Campbellville, ON L0P 1B0 Tel: 905-844-8218 Montreal: Tel: 514-856-0788 Vancouver: 1745 Rufus Drive North Vancouver, BC V7J 3L8 Camping Canada’s RV Lifestyle Dealer News is published by Camping Canada Magazine Ltd. Reproduction of any mate- rial appearing in this magazine in any form is forbidden without prior consent of the publisher. Advertising rates available on request. Camping Canada Magazine reserves the right to refuse any and all advertising and disclaims all responsibilities for claims or statements of facts made by its advertisers or independent columnists. PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT #43638025 Undeliverables to: 268 - 44 Crawford Crescent., Campbellville, ON L0P 1B0 MONTREAL, QUEBEC © 2024 CAMPING CANADA MAGAZINE PRINTED IN CANADA aaaa Contentspub page.indd 4Contentspub page.indd 42024-03-18 4:25 PM2024-03-18 4:25 PM• Creditor Life, Disability & Critical Illness Insurance • Mechanical Breakdown Plans • Appearance Protection Products We provide protection to Canadian families for when “what if?” becomes “what now?”. F inancial G r oup 320 Sioux Rd, Sherwood Park, AB T8A 3X6 Trevor Smolski Director - Business Development 780-819-3271 • tsmolski@firstcanadian.ca Justin Sood Director - Business Development 416-400-4418 • jsood@firstcanadian.ca Phone: 780.467.9575 • Fax: 780.467.4016 • Toll Free: 1-800.561.32426 ANALYZING THE Q4 2023 PRE-OWNED RV SALES STATISTICS… If you are familiar with the 2011 movie Moneyball, you will rec- ognize how much of an advan- tage you can gain over your oppo- nents by using data. In that movie (a true story about the Oakland A’s) Billy Beane outsmarts the richer teams by leveraging analytics in his decision making. The same approach can be applied to many industries including recreational vehicle sales. This article just scratches the surface on some of the patterns in sales of pre-owned recreational vehicles in the final quarter of 2023. MARKETING USING THE POWER OF DATA TO UNDERSTAND RV SALES STATS RV Lifestyle Dealer News | Volume 53 Number 1 For a much deeper analysis of sales for the fourth quarter of 2023, visit https://wtrfll.ca/sales-reports/. For a limited time, readers of RV Dealer News will receive $150 worth of downloads using the code RVDEALER at checkout, no mini- mum spend required. Weekly sales of pre-owned recre- ational vehicles remained fairly strong through October and saw a significant drop off with the arrival of November. By the last week of the year, there were fewer than 60 sales of pre-owned vehicles across the country. PRE-OWNED RV SALES BY REGION, Q4 2023 Of the 3,182 pre-owned rec- reational vehicles sold during the fourth quarter of 2023, Ontario deal- erships sold 869 which is substan- tially more than any other province. An RV Dealer News Exclusive Report by Nick Farnell RV MarketingREV.indd 6RV MarketingREV.indd 62024-03-18 4:26 PM2024-03-18 4:26 PMLtd. Protect your investment with one of our comprehensive plans TITANIUM TOP-UP TITANIUM Platinum Titanium coach only YOUR RV PROGRAM MOTORIZED NON-MOTORIZED PARK models Contact us to find your local rep! 8 RV Lifestyle Dealer News | Volume 53 Number 1 MARKETING RV MarketingREV.indd 8RV MarketingREV.indd 82024-03-18 4:26 PM2024-03-18 4:26 PM9 Volume 53 Number 1 | RV Lifestyle Dealer News Nick Farnell, MBA Nick Farnell is a pro- fessor of business analytics and runs the consulting firm wtrfll, focusing primarily on competitive intelligence and data driven insights. When not in front of a computer, he is spending as much time as possible in one of Ontario’s provincial parks with his young family. Please vist https://wtrfll.ca/ to see how Nick and his team have helped orga- nizations use data and analytics to better understand their customers and competitors. That is not entirely surprising since Ontario is by far the largest province by population. 191 pre-owned units were sold in Atlantic Canada and 1,395 in Western Canada. PRE-OWNED RV SALES BY PROVINCE, Q4 2023 High population numbers do not always equal high sales numbers how- ever, highlighted by the fact that few units are sold in some of Canada’s largest cities. Toronto and the sur- rounding area has a population of over 6 million but fewer than 100 pre- owned units were sold in the last 3 months of 2023. Looking deeper into regional sales, Edmonton, Alberta and the surround- ing area sold more RVs than any other place in the country, with approximate- ly 350 pre-owned units sold. The next closest was the Niagara region in Ontario that sold approxi- mately 200 units in this same time period. SALES BY CATEGORY In the final 3 months of 2023 the most common type of pre-owned rec- reational vehicle was travel trailers. 1,614 travel trailers were sold during this time representing over 50% of all pre-owned sales across the coun- try, with the next most common type being fifth wheel trailers with just over 21% of total pre-owned sales. Truck campers and tent trailers each had fewer than 100 units sold. This pattern is fairly consistent across the country with some slight regional variations. In Atlantic Canada travel trailers were more common than in the rest of the coun- try, accounting for approximately 60% of all pre-owned sales. Western Canada saw a higher proportion of fifth wheel trailers with nearly 24% of pre-owned sales – approximately 3% higher than the national average. PRICE DIFFERENCES BY PROVINCE Manitoba tended to have lower average prices at $40,534 vs the national average of $58,238. The average price of travel trailers spe- cifically was lower in Manitoba compared to the rest of the coun- try at $24,106 compared to $33,270 nationally. Older vehicles tend to have lower prices compared to newer vehicles, but in this case the average age of units sold in Manitoba was not substantially different than in other provinces. On the other side of the coin, motorhomes tended to sell at a high- er price in Atlantic Canada than in other parts of the country, all else being equal. PRICE DIFFERENCES BY RV TYPE Motorhomes were by far the most expensive units sold during the last 3 months of 2023. On average, pre- owned class A motorhomes sold for approximately $146,000, class B for $118,000 and class C for $107,000. Fifth wheels were the second most expensive category selling for approximately $50,500 on average. Pre-owned travel trailers aver- aged nearly $33,000 and tent trailers approximately $11,000. Having a high-quality data source is the first step in using the power of data and analytics to inform deci- sion making. Just like Billy Bean and the Oakland A’s in Moneyball, dealerships can leverage these tools to gain an advantage over their com- petitors in this increasingly competi- tive space. RV MarketingREV.indd 9RV MarketingREV.indd 92024-03-18 4:26 PM2024-03-18 4:26 PMNext >