KOA: Camping Sentiment High As Memorial Day Projections Surpass 2022

Article From：SGB Media

 

 

The Kampgrounds of America, Inc.’s (KOA) Monthly Research Report, April 2023 Edition, found that more U.S. households plan to camp over this year’s Memorial Day Weekend. With 22.6 million households saying they want to spend time outdoors during the May holiday, camping sentiment returned to on-season numbers—the highest since October 2022. 

 

Following a strong off-season, KOA reported camping would continue to be popular among leisure travelers.

 

KOA’s latest research report indicates that almost one-quarter of campers booked their camping trips for the year, a percentage that doubled month-over-month, further pointing to spring’s popularity as a camping planning period. Another 20 percent of camping households responded that they booked at least one trip with more planned. Notably, campers are deeper into the planning and booking phases than general leisure travelers, with only 9 percent of non-camping travelers saying they booked their trips for the year.

 

“Campers are an especially fervent group of travel enthusiasts, and we can especially see this in how they plan,” said Whitney Scott, senior vice president of strategy at KOA “This group looks forward to time spent in nature and plans accordingly to secure their favorite campgrounds and campsites.”

 

KOA’s April report also gave an overview of a strong camping off-season that saw more campers than in previous years. Winter camping, which does not include snowbirding, saw an additional 1.3 million households bringing the 2023 end-of-season total to over 8.2 million who camped during the colder months. The totality of off-season camping brought an estimated 6.15 million new campers to the activity.

 

“Our research shows that campers look forward to new experiences and adventures,” Scott said. “The changing seasons offer new ways to experience nature that directly affect the growth of winter and off-season camping. We expect to see even more growth during this half of the year in the future.”

 

The April report also shared that the number of campers increased in March by more than 3 million households year-over-year; this continues a multi-month growth trend in the camping market that is forecasted to continue.