Camping is emerging as the top choice for many families this year, as the industry touts new amenities to draw penny-pinching vacationers who still want to get away, but can’t afford shelling out big bucks for airline fare, posh resorts or pricey home rentals. The road to recovery started last year, when revenue for the nation’s more than 13,000 privately run campgrounds and RV parks grew 3% after falling 4.8% in the wake of the recession in 2009, according to a new report by IBISWorld, which provides market intelligence on a variety of industries. Although hurt somewhat by the recession, camping didn’t fall as fast as other travel segments, such as hotels and motels, whose revenue plummeted more than 9% in 2009, according to IBISWorld.

The camping uptick is expected to continue for the next five years as more retiring baby boomers hit the open road. Growing up in the “height of the Boy Scout movement,” boomers have a “permanent appreciation of the outdoors,” IBISWorld notes in the report. “This generation is expected to be wealthier and live longer than any prior generation, making them prime targets for an RV lifestyle.”

But campsites are not taking future growth for granted. Many sites are upgrading facilities to lure picky campers who are often looking for more than just a patch of dirt to pitch a tent.  To read more go to RVDA NewsBrief <rvda@multibriefs.com>

The most exciting aspect about a guided sturgeon fishing charter is the fact that you are actually fishing for living dinosaurs. The white sturgeon of the Fraser river are literally living relics from a time gone by. Fraser river sturgeon can vary greatly in size and shape and most of the fish that we catch are between 4 to 7 feet but you never know when a really big sturgeon will show up. Every season we catch many fish between 7 to 10 feet, these are fish in the 200 to 600+ pound class! 

The Springs RV Resort at Harrison Hot Springs was rated as one of the top 300 RV Parks in North America. The Resort was  presented with the 2011 Award of Excellence for outstanding achievement and commitment to excellence.

2010 Sees Record Sales in Canada’s Retail RV Market

Canada’s retail recreational vehicle market recovered strongly from the downturn of 2008 and 2009 to post its all-time best year in terms of overall sales value last year, with more than $3.4 billion in sales.
Last year’s result beat the previous nominal sales record of 2007 by $15.8 million dollars, and represents an incredible result for the industry coming out of what has been a very difficult recession. Though the economy did recover relatively strongly in 2010, most industries have yet to recover to pre-recession levels.
The sales result from last year topped the previous year’s level by more than 18 per cent. In an economy that grew by a tiny fraction of that amount, this is a remarkably strong number.
In terms of total units sold, 2010 beat out 2009 by 25 per cent, another remarkable result for the industry. The discrepancy between the growth in the nominal value of sales (+18%) and the total number of sales (+25%) underscores the degree to which prices have been on the decrease in recent years, opening up the RV market to more and more Canadian families.

Peter Kingma is helping the Village implement some of the best aspects of the Official Community Plan (OCP). On the drawing board are approximately 40 beautiful Whistler-style townhomes of exceptional quality (in many ways comparable to the quality and design element that we have built into the Springs RV amenities). Peter  is going above and beyond to keep trails open to Campbell Lake, as well as to help establish the green path and other aspects of the Village’s OCP.”  Make sure you welcome  Peter and let him know that we want quality developments like this in Harrison as it will bolster our property values  and help the Village realize the full potential of beautiful Harrison.

The owners of Hemlock Ski resort have proposed a new master plan that describes significant expansion of the Hemlock Resort and facilities including four-season recreational beachfront facilities in Harrison.

If this proposal goes forward Harrison will become a gateway to and beneficiary of these proposed improvements planned over the next several years and decades. It would appear there has never been a better time to lock in recreational property in Harrison as the expansion planning for Hemlock moves forward through the planning process. For more information see the 100+ page Master Plan at http://www.tca.gov.bc.ca/resort_development/resort_plans/list_of_plans.htm