No signs of an economic slowdown on display at this weekend's Calgary RV expo as organizers say attendance has jumped 17 per cent.

Dan Merkowski is the expo show manager.

He says prior to the 4-day event which began Thursday, he wasn't sure what to expect.

Dan Merkowski is the expo show manager. He says prior to this year's event he wasn't sure what to expect. (CBC)

"We were a little bit surprised," Merkowski tells CBC News.

"We didn't know what we were dealing with at this point in time. We were optimistic that people still had to spend time with their families and what better and more affordable way that, to do it with an RV and stay in Alberta."

The expo hosts 14 dealers with about 400 recreational vehicles on display.

Merkowski has some theories on why numbers are up.

"I think people aren't going to go to the States this year, it's a big hit [with] the U.S. dollar to go down," he explained.

"A lot of people maybe lost their job but still need that family time together so we're thinking what better way than to grab an RV, stay in Alberta, stay at one of our beautiful provincial, federal and private parks and just enjoy it and see what Alberta is all about."

The expo has run for more than 45 years in Calgary.