In your RVing adventures last year, did you see fewer empty campsites? Campsites that had “reserved” signs on them—but empty nonetheless? People making reservations on multiple sites for the same dates often get the blame. They put reservations in, then pick what they think is the “best” site, and leave the others empty, frustrating those who can’t get a reservation at all. But that may be changing, according to a survey by The Dyrt. Campground no-shows are heading down.
Reduction in campground no-shows indicates more folks keeping their word
The Dyrt, which calls itself the only camping app with all of the public and private campgrounds, RV parks and free camping locations in the United States, made that finding. The outfit’s survey found that 70.7% of campers say they used all their reservations in 2024. That’s a significant increase from 58.9% in 2023. The survey also reported a 16.7% decrease in cancellations and no-shows last year, according to a release.
These statistics are from the newly released 2025 Camping Report. The latest version of The Dyrt’s annual report is compiled from the results of surveys conducted with three groups. It includes thousands of members of The Dyrt camper community, a representative sample of U.S. residents, and camping property managers across all 50 states.
“I think there’s increasing awareness of the fact that it hurts other campers to reserve a campsite and leave it empty and the camping community is stepping up to do better,” The Dyrt founder Sarah Smith wrote in the report. “New legislation in California and Washington to incentivize advanced cancellation might be helping as well.”
Details are in the numbers
The Dyrt measured multiple types of cancellations and no shows, which decreased across the board in 2024. The percentage of campers who canceled two-plus days ahead of time in 2024 was 25.8%, a decrease of 3.3% from 2023. And only 6.9% of campers canceled with less than two days’ notice in 2024, which is a decrease of 3.8% from 2023.
In 2023, 16.7% of campers left a campsite one or more days early, and that rate dropped to 12.8% in 2024. The percentage of campers who arrived one or more days late dipped slightly, by a half-point, to 3.7% in 2024.
“The fact that cancellations and no-shows went down significantly is very encouraging,” says The Dyrt CEO Kevin Long. “Obviously some situations arise for people where cancellations are inevitable and unavoidable, but the stark drop from one year to the next is a clear indication that campers are figuring out how to navigate a more competitive camping landscape with compassion. Fewer sites are going to waste, more campers are able to secure a spot, and property owners and managers have more predictability. It’s a positive for everybody.”
Those with higher incomes have higher rate of campground no-shows
The percentage of campers who admitted to doing a campground no-show, making a reservation without canceling, in 2024 was 4%, down from 5% in 2023. The report identified some parallels between income levels and campers who no-showed. Among campers who earned more than $250,000 per year, 5.8% no-showed in 2024. Campers who earned between $101,000 and $250,000 per year were more than twice as likely (4.4%) to no-show than campers with incomes under $50,000 (2.1%). Of campers who earned between $50,000-$100,000, 3.2% no-showed a reservation in 2024.
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I like the last part about the income of campers. Losing 1-2 days of the campground reservation cost, just shows how these people only think of themselves.
It goes deeper than that Bob.
The logic is they’re willing to pay double for a great site than half for a bad one. Let that sink in as that’s what a “reservation hoarder” explained to me.
And I quote – “Booz Allen Hamilton doesn’t mind, they get the cancellation fee. The camp host doesn’t mind, one less fire pit to clean, noise complaint and toilet roll to change. Other campers don’t mind, less noise, crowds and traffic. The Park Service employees don’t mind due to less wear and tear on the facilities.”
Life favors the wealthy, it always has. The day is coming when you can’t even afford to sleep in a tent on public land….
Campgrounds love no-shows. They get paid for NOT providing services.
Why would they change it?
Maybe I’m in the wrong business? Hmmm, getting paid for doing nothing… what a brilliant business model.
Thank you for sharing the survey results, Russ and Tina! It is always interesting to consider personal experience against those experiences of a somewhat comparable group of people. Have a great weekend and safe travels!