In North America, the outdoor tourism sector has breathed a sigh of relief: after the lifting of travel restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, tourists have begun to move and choose outdoor accommodation facilities again. This was revealed in the report entitled The “Growth of Camping Amid Covid-19: A Fall 2020 Update”, a special edition of the annual North American Camping Report by Kampgrounds of America (KOA). According to the research, 21% of tourists this summer attended outdoor accommodation facilities. A quarter of North American campers said they are their first camping experience and 42% say they will continue with this type of trip.
Not only has camping attendance increased, but camping is considered the safest type of travel by over half of tourists (56%), with an increase of 10 percentage points compared to the results of a similar research carried out last May.
“While it’s great to see a strong rebound of camping and the effect that has on the broader outdoor hospitality industry, it’s this summer’s high level of interest among new campers and the re-engagement of past campers that really excites me,” said Toby O’Rourke, President and CEO of KOA. “Of the new campers that joined the fold in 2020, many have indicated they will continue camping in the future, which really drives home that camping and time spent in the outdoors can have such a positive impact on peoples lives, pandemic or not.”
When North Americans make the personal decision to resume their travels, 29% of leisure travelers –almost half (45%) of campers and even 15% of non-campers (leisure travelers who indicate they do not camp) – plan to replace a cancelled or postponed trip with camping. Prior to the pandemic, camping accounted for 11% of all leisure travel trips, while post-COVID-19, camping could account for 15% of planned trips through the remainder of 2020.
“KOA saw a huge need for our industry to understand camping as it related to COVID 19 back in May,” said Whitney Scott, Vice President, Marketing of KOA. “With this new report, we are able to look at what camper’s said verse what they did. We are excited to see robust numbers of new campers and what that means for camping and RVing moving forward for our industry’s, and our economy’s health.”
Spanish campsites: we will save our summer