Question About RV Shows? What's there and What's Not?

The Grand Rapids MI annual RV show in January at the huge DeVos Place Convention Center downtown has over 300 to 400 RV models, types, and sizes inside and always over 40 RV supplies/major items purchasable and CG/resort booths/dealers plus other RV/camping related booths. That's what the RV shows are all about or should be!

When home in winter or having to pop back home for a reason from Florida when the show is going, we always attend. Wonderful complete venue and always very enjoyable and plenty of enclosed parking (underground or parking ramps within a block or two of the main entrance and have connecting inside tunnels and walkways.

The main hall alone is large enough inside to have 3 football fields side by side with no support columns required due to the type of roof design used. The first one ever built this way and it was back in 2004. Shaped like a big wave of water.

There's an RV show here this coming weekend. Gonna go, but don't know why - don't want or need a new RV, or parts, or accessories, or anything else RV related... It's more to get pumped up for the upcoming season (weeks away now).

Our show has lots of vendor booths and one dealer has a bunch of parts and accessories. Never really anything to get super-excited over. As mentioned above, shopping online is better. There's 10 or so great RV vendors like MakariosRV, Tweety's, PPLmotorhomes, etc. where you can just about always get a better price online anyway. Once in a while you can find a good salesperson to get firsthand info. which can be helpful.

Went to the RV show in Seattle a couple of years ago. Big letdown. Expected to see lots and lots of vendor booths but almost none, just lots and lots of RVs. The floor area was almost too big and didn't take long to get pooped out from walking all over and in & out of RVs.

On the plus side of RV shows, at the Tampa show I saw a motorhome I really liked...only thing keeping me from buying it was $2,100,000.

TxTwoSome wrote:
Well we just got back from the Houston RV show yesterday was our first time attending an RV show.

We were surprised there were not more vendors selling miscellaneous
RV parts and supplies.

X2. I wish there was an RV accessories show

I was at the Minneapolis RV show this weekend and no accessary venders at all to speak of. One dealer I spoke to complained of the lack of acc venders also. His take was that the lack of venders turned people that already owned a rv off from coming to the shows. He felt every person through the door was a potential customer even if not for this year but somewhere down the road. He felt exposing his dealership and rv's hopefully meant that when they were ready they would remember him and call or visit his dealership.

I generally find one or two rv dealers selling parts and supplies. I go mostly to talk to the campgrounds as we do not buy a trailer every year, lol. Also it helps get you through the winter.

The one thing I don't care much for is when the rent spaces to people like bath fitters or basement water proofing. These should be at the home show and not the camping show.

I think Amazon, eBay, and other online vendors have given the parts and accessory guys less reason to show up to RV shows. I know that's where I do almost all of my shopping and looking.

Thanks for all the info. It was probably a good thing they didn't have a bunch of vendors, because I'd get something I think I really wanted but didn't need. Sounds like it just depends on the show. Thanks again.

I was ta the Atlantic City RV show yesterday and saw the same thing. There was a 6' long table with a couple hoses , and misc small stuff but that's it. If I wanted to buy some gutter guards for my stick and brick, .... Or some wine , or some fudge I could... Heck , up at the Edison show I could have picked up some killer looking pickles , but no accesories....

D and A plus 6, there are more RV shows across this country than members on RV forums. :)

do a search "2016 RVIA RV shows and vendors list" you will get the whole shebang.

In my experience with vending booths, it depends on the fees charged coupled with the past sales history of any particular show (it depends what product the vendor is offering at a given location).

Ex. truck camper accessories might not do as well at east coast states opposed to west coast or mid-western states.