Declining Rally Attendance

[gorm50]

Am surprised by the continually falling attendance and the implication that carries.

Understand membership is down only 2k from 1996, ie 95k to current 93k.

Am planning on attending GLASS Rally in Berrien Springs end of this month. Whereas it used to draw 1300 coaches, last year it was down in the 700 range. Wonder how few will attend this year?

Using Perry as a benchmark my first was in 1996 (6632). Attendance held pretty steady through 2005 and then the bottom falls out, ie 2007 (4832), 2009 (3279) and 2011 (2707).

Is it the economy, loss of income, cost of fuel, members tired of rallies in same location, etc?

As I believe the US is in economic decline, is FMCA rally attendance just another symptom of a nation in decline?

Can only assume cost of units, cost of fuel, age of members, etc affects attendance and participation. Anyone privy to FACTS?

RVing is a terrific travel and family activity. Sure hate to see it wither!

Gorm

[Guest BillAdams]

Is it the economy, loss of income, cost of fuel, members tired of rallies in same location, etc?

YES!

[garykd]

It is true that the same old thing will draw fewer attendees. However, the "baton" of leadership needs to be passed to younger members who will, most likely, have different ideas that will carry FMCA into the future. As an example, toy hauler coaches have been selling quite well the last two or three years. Does FMCA host events that would attract families owning toy hauler coaches? Does the entertainment have something for 30's and 40's years old with their kids (teenagers)? Do the optional activities appeal to the previously mentioned families?

The FMCA needs to consider who they want to attract as future members. Then attract them with events that will draw them to the FMCA. Doing the same thing over and over again will provide the same result over and over again.

[kalynzoo]

Indeed it is all of the above. Cost of fuel makes a long trip a luxury. Rallies in the same place every year mean that people at the far end of the travel spectrum may not want to try something new that requires a very long trip, especially with the family. Our one trip to the Redmond Rally a few years ago was disappointing. Most of the events were chapter oriented, leaving FMCA members without a chapter affiliation on their own for social events. The fact that so many members return every year, even with declining membership, shows the success of the organization and its appeal to a specific demographic. Dwindling attendance problems might require viewing the event with a new perspective: Moving venues, including new members to a greater extent, including RVers with other outlooks on recreation, such as toy haulers and class C's. Ultimately it is up to the association to decide on direction and membership goals. The FMCA, even with a declining attendance, is still a fine, worthwhile organization, and I offer my support through membership.

[Guest BillAdams]

FMCA will be moving to only one National rally per year beginning in 2012 so that will make for larger crowds but will likely limit them to a Central US location to allow as many participants as possible. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out as the Good Sam Club has announced that they will be moving from 2 to 3 rallies per year.

[GARYGIBSON]

Our first FMCA rally... was FANTASTIC!!! It was also the maiden voyage of our new 2011 Tiffin Allegro Breeze. Thank you FMCA. Thank you Six State Area Staff. Thank you to all the volunteers who "made it happen!" The entertainment was absolutely FIRST CLASS! Breakfast and the final dinner were stupendous. The seminars were purposeful and well executed. A wide variety of vendors representing the after-market industry were present. Tram support was excellent. This was absolutely the BEST rally we have ever attended. Just shy of 500 coaches, as I understand. :D :D + A 5+ Smiley rated affair!

Roughing it Smoothly and enjoying the Breeze!

TXUSGUY

Gary Gibson

Fort Worth, TX

2011 Allegro Breeze 32BR

Co-pilot: Vickie TXUSGAL

FMCA # F422915

[tbutler]

When we bought our first motor home in 2001, we shopped for motor homes as we drove down the interstate. Motor homes were everywhere. We'd see dozens of them in a short trip on the interstate. Once we were in one we noticed even more of them. Then the price of fuel started rising and the number of motor homes we saw on the interstate started dropping. I remember a trip in 2005 when the price of fuel took a large leap. We noticed large numbers of motor homes parked beside the road with FOR SALE signs on them. I think that attendance at rallies and conventions reflects this decrease in use of motor homes. The pressure continues to drive down numbers of people who are active RV'ers. Cost of used motor homes are reasonable but the new units are considerably more expensive than when we first entered the market. Fuel prices continue rising and there is no reason to believe that they will come down significantly in the future. In fact, as world demand for fuel increases, cost of fuel is likely to continue increase.

I believe that the motor home market will survive and perhaps see some revival as my generation, the baby boomers, retire. Many people can afford to own an RV while working but we were never able to do that. Only when we could retire and sell our home did we muster the funds to purchase a motor home and have the time to actually use one. As the last of the parents of the boomers fade from the motor home market, their children will be retiring in droves in coming years. I believe that many boomers will want to be RV'ers. How many of those are actually willing and able to follow their dreams remains to be seen.

It is obvious that many still enjoy the rallies we've had in the past but I'm sure there are others who would enjoy other types of rallies. Those who want to see different styles of rallies should step forward and take leadership roles in their local and regional chapters and in FMCA itself. Bring your ideas forward and help shape the organization as you see fit. Try creative ideas on local and regional levels. When they show success in drawing increased participation they will be adopted and expanded.

For myself, rallies and conventions are not the reason that I am in a motor home. I enjoy them but they aren't the purpose of my travel. I attend when they are convenient for my plans which is about once in three or four years for national conventions. We're never far enough north to get to the early spring conventions so the summer FMCA has been our primary contact with the organization. I've been interested in several regional and local rallies but they have never worked out with our schedule.

[lennich]

I am not at all surprised to find that our Rally figures are still dropping . After all what is the club doing to " keep up with the times" ? Nothing as far as I can see that helps rally attendance. Lets talk facts . Here we are with high speed internet at our finger tips do we use it NO we do not . By that I am referring to the late fee for signing up for a rally. Personally I feel this must be dropped as it is not needed,, anyone who decides late should be more then welcome to attend . They should not be penalized for this fact either . After all how long does it take to transmit an e mail from our home office to the rally site ,or rally master. SECONDS.What have we done about changing some of our rally basics like meals. I notice Good Sam has meals & fairly cheap as well. That is a big attraction as well ..WE also penalize our chapters that might like to attend a national rally.. We say if you want to park together "come together" why. Let them advise us how many are coming and set up a space accordingly. ..Seems pretty simple to me .I think with a bit of thought we could be making MANY changes to increase attendance with wonderful results . I guess we are just to darn OLD....

[zaferde]

It is true that the same old thing will draw fewer attendees. However, the "baton" of leadership needs to be passed to younger members who will, most likely, have different ideas that will carry FMCA into the future. As an example, toy hauler coaches have been selling quite well the last two or three years. Does FMCA host events that would attract families owning toy hauler coaches? Does the entertainment have something for 30's and 40's years old with their kids (teenagers)? Do the optional activities appeal to the previously mentioned families? The FMCA needs to consider who they want to attract as future members. Then attract them with events that will draw them to the FMCA. Doing the same thing over and over again will provide the same result over and over again.

1+ on this response, The F in FMCA stands for family, and it seems like in our membership the family is general an older retired couple (I'm one of them). We need to get the younger the younger crowd involved if the organization is to survive. I think it's time to expand our membership to towables, as has been suggested in the past. They seem to be the younger crowd needed to sustain an orginazation. I was very disapointed to see that all the West Coast family reunion rallys had been replaced with central ones; that is fine if you live in the central/east coast, but for us on the West Coast, it is like being abandoned. I went to the last rally in Redmond and had a great time. The FMCA board needs to rethink having all the rallies in the same region.

[hermanmullins]

The FMCA board needs to rethink having all the rallys in the same region.

The best way to have International Rallies would be to split them each year. I know that having all of the rallies in the middle is convenient for the FMCA Staff.

I believe that all even numbered years (2012-14-16 etc) should be west of the Rockies and all odd years (2013-15-17 etc) should be east of the Mississippi. East Coast and middle America will have a close location to attend and the West Coast and middle America would have the same. It would be nice for all rallies be close to a major family attraction (Six Flags- Disney World- Sea World- Nasa). This would allow Families Make it a vacation for the whole Family. This might attract the families with children.

Just a thought.

[aztec7fan]

1+ on this response, The F in FMCA stands for family, it seems like in our membership the family is general an older retired couple (I'm one of them), we need to get the younger the younger crowd involved if the organization is to survive. I think it's time to expand our membership to towables, as has been suggested in the past, they seem to be the younger crowd needed to sustain an orginazation.

Sorry, I disagree on allowing the towables into our group, but I do agree we need to attract a younger following. Here are some suggtestions:

1) When was the last time you saw PEOPLE on the cover of the FMC magazine? I have some old issues of FMC from the 1960's and 70's and they frequently showed families (yes, sometimes with children) enjoying the motohome lifestyle. There were covers with families skiing, and enjoying the outdoors, and also pictures of rallies and conventions. These days, the cover only shows the latest and greatest coach, shich appeals to the advertizers, more than to people.

2) FMCA needs to set itself apart from the other clubs as the best group to join and belong to. If you compare FMCA and Good Sam, they are very similar. We both have helpful informative magazine, good website, discounts for insurance and roadside assistance and other perks, rallies and conventions and fellowship. So why should someone with limited funds (like a working stiff like me) shell out $40.00 to belong to FMCA over Good Sam? Belonging to GS actually gets more campground discounts than FMCA, so again, I ask, why choose FMCA?

We need to get more RV parks and campgrounds to join us and offer even a minimal discount to add value to the FMCA membership. We also need to highlight the "Stoppin' Spots" part of our membership as something no other club has.

We as members need to also look for opportunities to get into local media by our actions as FMCA members. I remember in the 1970's a large number of members helped Audry and Bud Stone "raise the roof" on their barn to accomodate their motor home conversion. This made the local papers and attracted interest in the club. What about selecting a charity and raising money for it by driving accross a state or the country?

Just some thoughts, thanks for listening,

[ctcamper]

I am a new member and attended my first rally in Essex Jt Vermont as a guest. I had a wonderful time and it convinced me to join. I am really looking forward to the Brooksville rally.

Some of the problems I hear with the Essex rally and the Wisconsin rally were all electrical in nature. Essex Jt has had a lot of power issues over the last few years and it has been very hot that time of year so some people have said they won't do that rally for that reason.

While at the rally they were discussing the upcoming Madison rally and many of the concerns were based on monetary issues related to the needed third party party generators required.

I also understand after listening to the people in charge at the Essex rally that is increasingly difficult to find places that will host the rallies and that narrows the field in terms of costs involved.

I attend quite a few dog shows and have found that the dogs entered and attendance at those venues has dropped considerably since the economy has taken a dive.

I can't get to a lot of rallies as I still work. I can afford more time off than most as I do much online but part of my business requires me to be home part of the year.

[chucknewman]

Having been stuck in California most of my working life, we enjoyed the Pomona and Redmond locations. What is the official reason these are now bust? Costs???

When RVIA reports for the last couple years something like 80% or more of all RV sales are towables, it becomes apparent the substantial drop in motorhome sales will have a profound long-term effect on FMCA.

And having been asked to hold office in FMCA, we attended various "board meetings" in New Mexico last year. The very apparent top heavy management structure combined with a strong and arrogant "preserve and protect our personal domain" attitude at these meetings directly stifled the many suggestions for improvement from various club members.

If the Association doesn't change, the future is obvious.

By the way, we were in Good Sam for more than 15 years, and I can remember paying annual dues of more than $40.00. We left them for several reasons, but are you saying GS annual dues now are less than $40.00?

Chuck

[Guest BillAdams]

The reason? Location, location, location. If you are only going to have 1 rally per year and you are going to try to attract as many people as possible you have to find a central location. CA and/or OR do not qualify. Neither do FL or VT. FMCA is a business trying to stay in business during these difficult economic times. East coasters want all of the rallies in GA or FL. All of the West coasters want the rallies in CA or OR. When FMCA was able to do 2 rallies each year and have 3,000 - 8,000 RVers attend it was easy to have 2 rallies on 2 coasts. Today? Not so much.

[Guest Wayne77590]

I can afford it, but I am not interested in a lot of the activities and seminars that are "sponsored," so why pay the high price of admission and not be interested in some or all of the activities. What is the break down of costs. Example: SE Rally, $129 General Parking, $294 two people with 30A, and $20 less ($274) for only one person. Doesn't the RV take up as much space for one or two people? Why not $274 for everyone. And then, as stated, a higher price if you don't register by a certain date. Why? So in a scenario, I'm under contract to be somewhere other than a rally, then, through unknown reasons, my time becomes available and I can travel, but it's "after" the date so I pay $15 more? Why? Personally it doesn't compute for me.

That is just an area Rally. Someone give me a breakdown of the National Rally, please.

[Dranoel]

I'll only address the fuel cost factor that impacts attendance at rallies. My first motorhome was purchased in 1971, gas was $.30/gal. We soon saw it double to $.60/gal, then thinking "how can I afford that ?". Somehow we adjusted, another doubling soon took place up to $1.20/gal, "do we get out of motorhoming ?". No we didn't we kept going. Needless to say, fuel prices kept climbing, so now we're in the $3.30/gal range. What happens if prices double to $6.60 ? Europe is a good example, gasoline prices currently range in the $7.00-$8.00/ gal area. You don't see many motorhomes the size of our class A, most are similar to our smaller class B or class C motorhomes. I believe the future will see many smaller fuel efficient motorhomes here in the US. Therefore rally attendance may still drop some more until we adjust to more fuel efficient motorhomes.

[AprilWhine]

Interesting thread.

I believe the future of FMCA will include towables, simply because that is what most people buy.