The 56th annual America’s Largest RV Show, hosted by the Pennsylvania RV and Camping Association (PRVCA) at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pa., is in the rearview mirror. As the Hershey RV Show wraps up another year of bringing all elements of the industry together, industry leaders are sharing their perspectives.
Heather Leach, PRVCA Executive Director
“From the association standpoint, we felt the show went very well,” she said. “There were 
not any major hiccups. I talked to manufacturers and dealers, and they felt it was a mixed bag as far as sales. Some said their numbers were excellent and this was one of their best shows. There are others who said this was not necessarily any kind of record-breaking year. There are still some issues with consumer confidence that are making an impact.”
Leach said 45,813 visitors came to the show this year. That’s down from last year’s 47,075, yet slightly ahead of 2023’s count of 45,535. She added many were cautiously optimistic about this year’s show: “We were hoping it would be a good show for people, and I think that kind of rang true at the end,” she said. “Now, we’re looking forward to a great 2026,” she said. “We feel it’s going to be a good year in the industry.”
Michael Happe, President & CEO, Winnebago Industries
“All things considered, I think it was a good show. Obviously, attendance wasn’t exactly as strong as we had hoped, but I think the retail activity at the show was good. In spite of that (attendance figure), I think there were a number of consumers who showed up willing to engage our dealers and our factory teams on possibly buying an RV, and our sales at the show reflected that. We found it to be a little bit stronger of a motorized show than we were expecting, with towables probably in line with expectations. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday tend to have a little bit of a different complexion than Saturday and Sunday at the show.
“But I think we walk away from the show pleased with how our brands performed — especially in light of market conditions that have been soft and challenging. And we walk away from the show with just an impression that this lifestyle is resilient, and that people continue to engage in the lifestyle. There are new buyers in the market; it’s just a matter of finding the right product at the right price that fits with their needs.
Marcus Lemonis, President & CEO, 200-store Camping World Holdings Inc.
“The Hershey Show was flat for us as far as units. Traffic overall for us was fair, and we had two displays this year as opposed to three.”
Coley Brady, Co-Founder, Alliance RV
“It was excellent for our company. The numbers we saw on Sunday were pretty low, but we were very happy with the turnout and the completed deals. We had a really strong showing for all segments, but specifically for our fifth-wheels. Our Avenue and Paradigm brands had a really strong showing. It was a very encouraging show. I think it bodes well for Open House next week, and for the fourth quarter.”
Jon Ferrando, President & CEO of 102-store Blue Compass RV
“We had a great week. Blue Compass had a very strong week in motorized in particular. The teams were engaged, energized. We exceeded last year, and last year we had a great year in motors. So, we ended up with a very good work week, pleased with how our teams executed. As far as the overall show attendance, it was soft, continuing the overall trend of the last couple of years. So, we didn’t really see a pick-up in attendance despite this gorgeous weather. Given all that, I see the industry’s overall health right now as solid, and we’re looking for a positive impact from anticipated interest rate cuts in the near future.”
Ashley Bontrager Lehman
Ashley Bontrager Lehman and Chris Barth, Co-Founders, Ember RV
(Barth) “We only had seven units there when one of ’em is the little guy, right? So it’s like six and a half units in 3,000 square feet. So, our dealer, Beckley’s RV, is very, very excited when we sell out the display multiple times and we went into depth of all their inventory and send people back to their store. So, for us, the numbers were extraordinary and we had people asking for models that weren’t there. So to me it was a phenomenal show.
“I would echo what Chris said. It was a record-breaking show for Ember. We were really pleased with the performance. It felt very busy for us and I felt like the quality of attendees was there. They were ready to buy an RV and go camping. So, yeah, we’re really happy with the way the show went this year and we’re excited for what it means.”
Loren Baidas, CEO, 22-store General RV Center
“The Hershey show we thought was very well attended, and we feel like from a overall industry standpoint, I think it proved consistent with where the health of the industry is as a whole. We were able to retail coaches at a very similar level as last year, so those signs point to good news. It was a mix (of product that was selling). I think it was very consistent with the mix of models and price points that we’ve seen all over the industry this year, so I don’t think there were any big surprises that we thought coming out of it, but obviously weather was fantastic, and I’m guessing attendance was pretty flat overall, so it was good.
“We’ve been in Pennsylvania now for five years, and we wanted to continue with our investment in the industry, but more in that marketplace and with the purchase of a building and property over three years ago, working with the city of Elizabethtown, we did a ton of site improvement, invested total between everything, about $25 million to create a beautiful state-of-the-art Supercenter, which is now probably one of our fourth or fifth biggest and the nicest one in the East Coast, other than our Richmond and North Carolina stores.
“The investment included the purchase of the existing building and property, another 25 acres of existing land next to it, and then the development of a sales center service drive through and ability to make the facility state of the art up to our high level standards that we want to be the premier RV partner in the industry.”
