Self-contained RVs

The votes were tallied and the majority — at least the very few that elected to vote, cast their votes in favour of welcoming owners of self-contained RVs, namely travel trailers and fifth wheels.

My understanding is that the FMCA has roughly 135,000 active members. Only 9,800 active members voted on this item. 6,820 voted to extend membership beyond owners of motorcoaches. And that is all it took to change the original vision for FMCA.

Membership in FMCA was contingent upon ownership of a motorhome and the vision of the founders of FMCA was a club specific to motorhomes. On their website, FMCA has a series of questions about the change including this one:

17) How will FMCA fulfill the vision that the founders had that FMCA would be an exclusive club for motorized RVs?

We recognize your concern about this issue. However, to continue to exist as an association, we also recognize that we need to avoid stagnation. The RV marketplace has changed and evolved over time. We’ve looked around and seen that our families and friends – those we want to welcome as new FMCA members – have many choices of RVs that are not motorized. We want to make sure FMCA flourishes well into the future, and broadening our focus is a way to help ensure this.

We have been FMCA members since we purchased our coach. Not quite sure how to react to the change.

I love Airstream trailers. I am not much of a fan of fifth wheels. Not that it really matters except that my ownership experience is quite different from travel trailers and fifth wheels. I’m not all that interested in reading articles about travel trailers and fifth wheels nor being part of rallies with travel trailers and fifth wheel owners. And given the recent surge in the sales of motorhomes coupled with the demographic shift to retirement and the appeal of an RV lifestyle, I’m not sure how necessary it was to make this change.

Looks like it was volume related and there is no question that there are far more travel trailers and fifth wheels than motorhomes. Maybe this will encourage more members. I guess we will find out.