A freewheeling holiday ahead

Gentlemen and ladies, start your engines.

As the booking season for Memorial Day revs up, RV rental companies report business is booming, thanks largely to foreign tourists returning to the U.S. in big numbers. An informal survey suggests American RVers plan to spend more time on the road too.

Gasoline prices fell slightly last week in California although they set a record at $1.813 per gallon nationwide, according to the federal Energy Information Administration. But fuel costs may not have much effect on the popularity of RVing.

“I have not heard a single complaint about gas prices,” said Joe Laing, director of marketing for El Monte RV in Santa Fe Springs.

Ken Sommer, spokesman for the Recreation Vehicle Industry Assn. in Reston, Va., said, “RVers are very passionate about their hobby. Nothing deters them.”

Responding to the association’s mail questionnaire, three-fourths of RV owners said they planned to travel more this spring and summer than last season.

To nudge more RVers onto the road, Cruise America Inc. of Mesa, Ariz., has been offering a “fuel cost protection plan” to renters. It will decrease mileage charges based on the difference between the average nationwide gas price during the rental versus the price in December 2003.

So far this year, Cruise America’s bookings are up about 20%, said Michael Smalley, director of company operations. That’s mostly because more foreigners, who plan farther in advance and account for two-thirds of the firm’s business, are coming.

“It’s crazy right now,” said El Monte RV’s Laing. “The Europeans are back” -- drawn, he said, by favorable exchange rates. Bookings were up more than 60% from foreigners and 2% from Americans versus the same period last year, he added.

It was too early last week to predict demand for Memorial Day because most Americans book a month or less ahead, Laing said. But he said his company was about 50% to 60% booked and that as availability decreased, rental rates would rise.

Even with record fuel prices, industry experts said, RV trips can pencil out to less than other family vacations because of savings on hotels, restaurant meals and sometimes airfare.